Instructs Intelligence Agencies to Form External Panel for Investigation
The Origin of COVID-19 Remains Highly Partisan in the United States
The White House under the Joe Biden administration has instructed intelligence agencies to re-investigate the origins of COVID-19.
On the 17th (local time), The Washington Post (WP) reported that Jake Sullivan, the National Security Advisor, requested the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), which oversees U.S. intelligence agencies, to form an external expert panel to review the existing investigation results on COVID-19 on the 12th.
The reason for requesting the investigation ahead of Donald Trump's inauguration was explained by Biden administration officials as Sullivan's desire to understand the virus that has claimed the lives of over one million Americans and shaken society. An ODNI spokesperson said, "We continue our thorough analysis and look forward to collaborating with an external expert panel to enhance the quality of our work."
The debate over the origins of COVID-19 has taken on a partisan nature in the United States. The Democratic Party, to which President Biden belongs, agrees with scientists who analyze that the virus was transmitted from animals to humans, and that the initial infection likely occurred in Wuhan, China. However, Republicans and other scientists trust the claim that the virus leaked from a laboratory in China due to an accident. President-elect Trump and John Ratcliffe, the nominee for Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), have also actively advocated the lab leak theory.
Although there is no evidence that the COVID-19 virus was stored in any laboratory before it spread, this claim is increasingly gaining support among the American public. Colonel Joe Biden instructed intelligence agencies to review existing data in 2021, but there were disagreements among intelligence agencies. The Department of Energy and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) assessed that the virus leaked while conducting dangerous virus research in Wuhan, but four other intelligence agencies and the National Intelligence Council leaned toward the theory of transmission through animals.
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