A new report reveals that the FBI, the sole U.S. intelligence agency to assert with confidence that a lab leak was the most probable origin of COVID-19, was excluded from a pivotal 2021 briefing with President Joe Biden. The National Intelligence Council (NIC), responsible for the briefing, reportedly prioritized theories suggesting natural origins over the lab leak hypothesis, leaving key FBI evidence unrepresented.
Dr. Jason Bannan, a former senior scientist at the FBI, expressed shock over his agency’s omission, particularly since their findings indicated a high likelihood of a lab origin. The NIC’s review, which included input from four intelligence agencies, concluded with “low confidence” that COVID-19 likely originated from an animal transmission rather than being “genetically engineered.” At the time, a popular theory suggested the virus spread from a bat at a Wuhan wet market, where the outbreak first began in 2019.
However, whistleblower Lt. Col. Joseph Murphy disclosed that crucial evidence, such as federal grant documents outlining potential methods to engineer viruses like SARS-CoV-2, was inappropriately classified. Furthermore, reports of a Chinese military researcher filing for a vaccine patent just weeks after the virus was sequenced were ignored.
Silencing of subject matter experts
According to sources cited by the New York Post, U.S. officials, including President Biden, were unaware of critical findings because scientists and intelligence agents investigating the lab leak theory were silenced. Investigators from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and other researchers discovered evidence favoring a lab leak, yet their contributions were downplayed.
The FBI, which conducted over 200 interviews with more than 80 individuals, maintains its stance that the virus most likely originated from a lab in Wuhan. Despite this, their analysis was excluded from the White House briefing.
Calls for transparency
Dr. Bannan criticized the lack of transparency and urged a reassessment of the intelligence community’s review process. “What ended up on the intelligence community’s cutting-room floor needs to be re-examined,” he stated.
In response to the allegations, a spokesperson for the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) claimed that all perspectives within the intelligence community were objectively represented. However, critics argue that the exclusion of the FBI’s findings raises questions about bias and suppression.
Broader implications
The report underscores growing calls for a transparent, comprehensive investigation into the origins of COVID-19. The sidelining of evidence and expert opinions risks undermining public trust in the intelligence community’s conclusions, especially given the global implications of understanding the pandemic’s genesis.