The Office of the U.S. Director of National Intelligence said Thursday the White House and Congress have been consistently provided with critical support by the U.S. intelligence community on the coronavirus.
The office said it agreed with wide scientific consensus that the COVID-19 virus was not manmade or genetically modified.
Fox News, quoting sources within the administration, earlier this month floated the idea the virus had originated in a Chinese lab.
The National Intelligence director, in a statement issued on Thursday said U.S. intelligence was continuing to rigorously examine information to determine whether the virus originated from infected animals or as ‘the result of an accident’ at a lab in Wuhan.
The statement, by its wording makes clear, that if contact with the virus came from a Chinese lab, there was no intention to spread it, but rather any breach was as the result of an ‘accident.’
“The entire Intelligence Community has been consistently providing critical support to U.S. policymakers and those responding to the COVID-19 virus, which originated in China. The Intelligence Community also concurs with the wide scientific consensus that the COVID-19 virus was not manmade or genetically modified,” the director’s office’s statement said.
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“As we do in all crises, the Community’s experts respond by surging resources and producing critical intelligence on issues vital to U.S. national security. The IC will continue to rigorously examine emerging information and intelligence to determine whether the outbreak began through contact with infected animals or if it was the result of an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan,” the statement added.
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