Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines testified in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday and said the intelligence community has not yet discounted the theory that COVID-19 originally leaked out of a lab in Wuhan, China:
Director of National Intelligence tells Senate panel: "It is absolutely accurate the intelligence community does not know exactly where, when or how covid-19 virus was transmitted initially," Avril Haines doesn't discount lab theory, says work continues inside intel community
— Lucas Tomlinson (@LucasFoxNews) April 14, 2021
Boy, it’s really weird how much Biden administration folks sound like Sen. Tom Cotton and others now that they’ve been briefed on the matter:
Isn’t it *interesting* that the Biden admin hasn’t distanced itself from the leaked lab theory. (Somebody took office and got their briefings, that’s why) https://t.co/idjzrckKnY
— Rebeccah Heinrichs (@RLHeinrichs) April 14, 2021
That question came from Sen. Marco Rubio:
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Rubio uses his first questions to ask about the so-called "lab leak" theory that the virus that causes Covid-19 may have originated in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
— Shane Harris (@shaneharris) April 14, 2021
Haines said they’re investigating two scenarios: 1. It originated with an animat and 2. it was a lab accident:
Haines, speaking for the IC, says they "do not know exactly where, when, or how" the coronavirus emerged. Theories have coalesced around 2 scenarios–natural transmission (animals to humans) or a lab accident. The IC is still investigating.
— Shane Harris (@shaneharris) April 14, 2021
CIA Director William Burns added that China “has not been fully forthcoming or fully transparent”:
CIA Director Burns agrees and says that China "has not been fully forthcoming or fully transparent…in providing the kind of original complete data that would help answer those questions."
— Shane Harris (@shaneharris) April 14, 2021
And NSA Director Paul Nakasone said the government is working with “US intel agencies, as well as other countries and ‘academia'” to answer these outstanding questions:
And notably, NSA Director Nakasone says his agency is continuing to gather information that might help answer these questions, and is working with US intel agencies, as well as other countries and "academia."
— Shane Harris (@shaneharris) April 14, 2021
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