What We Know About the U.S. Intelligence Community ’ s Split on COVID-19 Origins

News that the U.S. Department of Energy made a determination about the origins of COVID-19 has sparked new questions about the U.S. intelligence community’s investigation of the global pandemic that has killed an estimated 6.85 million people. The Energy Department, which runs multiple national laboratories, concluded with a low level of confidence that COVID-19 most likely emerged as a result of a leak from a laboratory in China, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing anonymous sources. The Journal reported that the Energy Department’s new determination was classified. Previously, the agency was undecided on the cause of the pandemic. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] “Knowing how this pandemic started is absolutely vital to protecting our people,” says Andrew Weber, a former Assistant Secretary of Defense in charge of nuclear, chemical, biological weapons defense. “The fact that the intelligence community of the United States of America believes that both scenarios are plausible is enough to lead us to change some of our policies.” Eight agencies, plus the National Intelligence Council, have investigated the causes of the virus, according to a report summary from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released in August 2021. The details of these investigations, including specific methods and sources used to make the determinations, and even the names of the agencies involved, remain hidden from public ...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 Explainer National Security Source Type: news