The FBI has confirmed that the most likely source of COVID-19 is the virology lab in Wuhan, China. The Biden administration’s admission comes after the Wall Street Journal reported that the Department of Energy gave classified briefings to key lawmakers and the White House saying the most likely origin of the virus was the lab in China.
“[FBI] Director Wray confirmed that the Bureau has assessed that the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic likely originated from a lab incident in Wuhan, China,” the agency said in a statement.
House Republicans have vowed to investigate the origins of COVID-19 and whether American taxpayer dollars may have played a role since the lab has received federal funding. The lawmakers have requested documents, communications, records, and more from the Biden administration to uncover the truth about the origins of COVID-19.
“Uncovering the truth about the origins of COVID-19 is vital to U.S. national security, critical to the prevention of future pandemics, and will bring some semblance of closure to the families of those who lost loved ones during the pandemic,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to the Biden administration.
Republican lawmakers have criticized the media and social media companies for “covering up” for China and labeling anyone questioning China’s official COVID narrative as “xenophobic, a conspiracy theorist, and more.”
The admission by the Biden administration comes after other lawmakers and the media roundly mocked Republicans during the pandemic for making the same assertion. In 2020, the Associated Press called the idea a “myth,” The New York Times called it a “conspiracy theory,” and The Washington Post called it a “fringe theory.” Social media companies like Facebook also took down posts claiming COVID-19 was man-made.
“FBI Director Wray confirmed on national TV that the FBI has thought COVID came from the Wuhan lab for a long time,” said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La. “Republicans were right all along. But got called conspiracy theorists. Will the media and Big Tech be apologizing to us?”