COVID-19 likely came from Chinese lab, according to US Energy Dept., FBI director

A classified report from the U.S. Department of Energy concluded that the COVID-19 pandemic likely began in a laboratory in Wuhan, China, according to an article from The Wall Street Journal.

The classified report, which was provided to the White House and several Congress members, made its conclusion with “low confidence,” but nonetheless indicated that evidence points to a lab incident as the cause of COVID-19.

Until now, the U.S. Department of Energy had made no conclusion regarding COVID-19’s origin, but reportedly has changed its official position in light of new evidence. The Wall Street Journal reports that the change was “noted in an update to a 2021 document” issued by the office of Avril Haines, director of National Intelligence.

Shortly after news of the report broke, FBI Director Christopher Wray made similar statements on Fox News.

Confirming a 2021 report from The New York Times, Wray acknowledged that the FBI had concluded the COVID-19 pandemic likely originated in a Wuhan laboratory. 

The FBI was the first U.S. intelligence agency to conclude that the pandemic was likely caused by a “laboratory accident,” and suggested as much with “moderate confidence,” he said.

The biosafety level 4 (BSL-4) laboratory, known as the Wuhan Institute of Virology, is widely regarded as the most likely source of the virus, as it is known to conduct research on bat coronaviruses.

While Wray spoke of “a potential leak from a Chinese government-controlled lab,” and emphasized China’s efforts to “thwart and obfuscate” investigations, he did not mention the connections between the U.S. government and the Wuhan lab.

Beginning in 2014, EcoHealth Alliance, a U.S.-based global nonprofit organization, received over $3 million in grant money from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the primary agency of the U.S. government responsible for biomedical and public health research. The NIH admitted that this grant money was used by EcoHealth Alliance to conduct risky research on coronaviruses at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, but denies that the research it funded could have led to the creation of COVID-19.

EcoHealth Alliance, which seeks to develop “science-based solutions to prevent pandemics,” also received close to $40 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Defense between 2013 and 2020, the vast majority of which came from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

Andrew Huff, a former vice president of EcoHealth Alliance, stated under oath that EcoHealth Alliance President Dr. Peter Daszak told him in 2015 that he was developing a working relationship with the Central Intelligence Agency.