The Washington Post as an important piece up today reporting on State Department cables from 2018 that “warned of safety issues” at the lab in Wuhan, China studying bat coronaviruses:
@joshrogin SCOOP: “During interactions with scientists at the WIV laboratory, they noted the new lab has a serious shortage of appropriately trained technicians & investigators needed to safely operate this high-containment laboratory,” states the Jan. 19 2018 cable. #coronavirus https://t.co/pf7GF9cfOZ
— Kim Dozier (@KimDozier) April 14, 2020
This is important as there’s much speculation if an accident at the lab was the source of this pandemic:
"The cables have fueled discussions inside the U.S. government about whether this or another Wuhan lab was the source of the virus — even though conclusive proof has yet to emerge." https://t.co/JBsdPtc17I
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) April 14, 2020
In other words, “this is a BIG F***ING DEAL”:
Recommended
Well, this is a BIG F***ING DEAL.https://t.co/aA9fawLd0s
— Jim Geraghty (@jimgeraghty) April 14, 2020
More from Josh Rogin who broke the story:
Exclusive: State Department cables warned of safety issues at Wuhan lab studying bat coronaviruses https://t.co/kgwc21YwBP
— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) April 14, 2020
In 2018, U.S. Embassy officials visited the Wuhan Institute of Virology several times and sent two official warnings back to Washington about inadequate safety at the lab, which was conducting risky studies on coronaviruses from bats https://t.co/kgwc21YwBP
— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) April 14, 2020
"The cables have fueled discussions inside the U.S. government about whether this or another Wuhan lab was the source of the virus — even though conclusive proof has yet to emerge." https://t.co/kgwc21YwBP
— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) April 14, 2020
“During interactions with scientists at the [Wuhan] laboratory, they noted the new lab has a serious shortage of appropriately trained technicians and investigators needed to safely operate this high-containment laboratory,” states the Jan. 19, 2018, cable https://t.co/kgwc21YwBP
— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) April 14, 2020
"The first cable, which I obtained, also warns that the lab’s work on bat coronaviruses and their potential human transmission represented a risk of a new SARS-like pandemic."https://t.co/kgwc21YwBP
— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) April 14, 2020
Question: Why the eff is the State Department leaking this NOW?
Now I’m left wondering how many people at the State Department read this memo about "a serious shortage of appropriately trained technicians and investigators needed to safely operate this high-containment laboratory…"
— Jim Geraghty (@jimgeraghty) April 14, 2020
… and why we had to go a couple months into a major global pandemic before we learned about these concerns about the lab.
— Jim Geraghty (@jimgeraghty) April 14, 2020
And it was just yesterday that CNN was hyping a BS Pew Research poll calling out Americans who thought the virus was from a Chinese lab:
Weren't we dunking on the 30% of Americans who thought this virus originated in a lab yesterday? https://t.co/Lr3FrcsduF
— Sean T at RCP (@SeanTrende) April 14, 2020
The Pew poll was garbage as it asked if the virus was “created” in the lab and not if it was an accidental release of a naturally occuring virus, which is what people think is going on here:
Despite evidence from infectious disease experts suggesting otherwise, nearly 30% of Americans in a new Pew poll said they believe the novel coronavirus was likely created in a lab. https://t.co/3JxOBdMssk
— CNN (@CNN) April 13, 2020
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