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A classified document delivered to President Biden
Joe Biden House Democrats hold key budget vote for Tuesday Biden envoy calls on North Korea to resume nuclear talks Biden to decide on extension of Afghan troop withdrawal in next 24 hours: MORE report revealed Tuesday that the intelligence community was unable to identify the definitive origins of the virus that causes COVID-19, the Washington Post reported.
Two US officials familiar with the matter told the outlet that the intelligence results were inconclusive and were unable to indicate the exact source of the virus, including the initially accepted theory that the virus likely passed from animals to humans, nor if he has fled. following a laboratory accident.
The report follows May Biden’s request to the intelligence community to “redouble efforts” to reach an official determination on the origins of COVID-19 and report to him within 90 days.
Biden said in a statement at the time that he wanted intelligence officials to include “additional areas of investigation that may be needed, including specific questions for China.
U.S. officials, who spoke to the Post on condition of anonymity because the report was not made public, said the intelligence community will be preparing to declassify elements of the report in the coming days.
The Hill has contacted the White House for comment.
The inconclusive results reported come after Director of National Intelligence April Haines
April Haines This Week: Biden Confronts Crucial Moment in Capitol Hill Disaster in Afghanistan Puts Intelligence Under Watch Rubio Urges DNI to Investigate Alleged Unmasking of Tucker Carlson MORE said Yahoo! News in an interview in June that the intelligence community probably never would “High confidence” in the origins of COVID-19.
“We hope to find a smoking gun,” she said at the time, but noted that “it is difficult to do so.”
“It can happen, but maybe not,” she added.
Haines, who said the intelligence review involved dozens of analysts and intelligence officials, noted that investigators largely focused on two theories: human contact with an infected animal and the lab accident.
“I don’t know which of these two plausible theories is the correct answer,” Haines told Yahoo in June. “But I have listened to the analysts, and I really see why it is that they perceive these two theories to be in competition and why it is very difficult for them to assess one against the other.”
While the theory of lab leaks was initially rejected by many in the scientific community earlier in the pandemic, more and more people saw it as a plausible explanation.
However, scientists have yet to find definitive evidence linking the virus to a laboratory, nor any solid evidence showing that it was first transmitted to humans from animals.
Biden and others have called on China to be more direct in providing access to information on the initial outbreak of the virus in the country, with officials pointing to strict internal control by Chinese authorities as a big reason for the inability of international investigators. to come to a final conclusion.
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