U.S. Energy Department, FBI Say COVID-19 Pandemic Likely Started with Lab Leak in China
A new intelligence report from the U.S. Energy Department suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic began following a leak at a lab in Wuhan, China.
On Sunday, The Wall Street Journal published a report stating that the agency’s conclusion is based on new, undisclosed intelligence.
So far, only the FBI and the U.S. Energy Department have said they believe the coronavirus was leaked from the lab. Other scientists maintain that the virus could have come from an infected animal.
As reported by CBS News, on Wednesday, China rejected the report that the pandemic was caused by a lab leak.
“By rehashing the lab-leak theory, the U.S. will not succeed in discrediting China, and instead, it will only hurt its own credibility,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said in a statement.
“We urge the U.S. to respect science and facts … stop turning origin tracing into something about politics and intelligence, and stop disrupting social solidarity and origins cooperation,” she added.
Ning’s comments were in response to comments by FBI Director Christopher Wray, who noted that the FBI knew about the lab leak.
“The FBI has for quite some time now assessed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in (central China’s) Wuhan,” Wray told Fox News on Tuesday.
“Here you are talking about a potential leak from a Chinese government-controlled lab,” he said.
“I will just make the observation that the Chinese government, it seems to me, has been doing its best to try to thwart and obfuscate the work here, the work that we’re doing, the work that our U.S. government and close foreign partners are doing. And that’s unfortunate for everybody,” Wray said.
Wray’s comments were also posted on the FBI’s official Twitter account.
“#FBI Director Wray confirmed that the Bureau has assessed that the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic likely originated from a lab incident in Wuhan, China,” the FBI wrote on Twitter.
#FBI Director Wray confirmed that the Bureau has assessed that the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic likely originated from a lab incident in Wuhan, China. pic.twitter.com/LcBVNU7vmO
— FBI (@FBI) March 1, 2023
So far, the Biden administration has declined to comment on the news about the department’s conclusion about the lab leak.
CBN News reports that Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul has called on the Biden administration to declassify the government documents that prompted the Energy Department to conclude that the virus leaked from the Wuhan Lab.
“Classified documents leaked (they should be declassified!) showing scientists at DOE believe COVID leaked from Wuhan Lab,” Paul tweeted Monday night.
Classified documents leaked (they should be declassified!) showing scientists at DOE believe COVID leaked from Wuhan Lab https://t.co/glETIVPe5z
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) February 27, 2023
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Panorama Images
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for Christian Headlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
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