A recent report from the Wall Street Journal revealed evidence found by the FBI of a COVID-19 pandemic possibly being able to be caused by a leak in a China laboratory, but other intelligence agencies blocked them from presenting their findings to President Joe Biden.
Dr. Jason Bannan, a microbiologist and former senior scientist with the FBI, said the agency had “moderate confidence” in its assessment, which is a stronger belief in the lab leak theory than any other domestic intelligence or security agency. “Being the only agency that assessed a laboratory origin as more likely, and expressing the highest level of confidence in our analysis, we expected to be included in the briefing,” Bannan said, adding that the White House did not request the FBI’s input.
In May 2021, President Biden initiated an inquiry involving U.S. intelligence agencies and national laboratories to investigate whether the virus had transferred from animals to humans or if a lab leak was responsible for its spread.
The National Intelligence Council (NIC), which comprises senior intelligence officials, conducted the review and concluded with “low confidence” that COVID-19 was transmitted from animals to humans. These findings were briefed to President Biden and senior White House officials in August 2021, by the Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines. It represents the consensus of the CIA and three other agencies.
Some question the openness of the intelligence investigation. “What ended up on the cutting-room floor needs to be re-examined,” said Bannan, calling for openess of the investigation.
When asked why the FBI view was not included, a spokeswoman for the DNI’s office said it is not common to invite representatives from individual agencies to participate in presidential briefings. She said differing views from the intelligence community were well-represented, and the NIC’s work on COVID-19 origins met all analytic standards, including objectivity.
Also, earlier this month, the COVID-19 committee, under the Republicans, released a report which stated: “It is likely that the virus emerged because of a laboratory or research-related accident.”
