U.S. Claims COVID-19 Emerged from Lab Incident in China

A U.S. congressional subcommittee examining the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic has reviewed classified documents that, according to them, suggest the virus accidentally leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan, China. The Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic asserts that these documents also indicate an attempt by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to obscure the details of the incident.

Committee Chairman Brad Wenstrup has made a formal request to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, urging the declassification of these records. Wenstrup’s demand aims to provide transparency and reveal the full extent of the knowledge regarding the pandemic’s origins to the public.

The documents in question, which had previously been disclosed in a heavily redacted form under a Freedom of Information Act request by the nonprofit U.S. Right to Know, were shared with the committee in a classified format. They reportedly contain evidence linking the initial COVID-19 outbreak to a lab-related accident and suggest a collaboration between the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.

Wenstrup emphasized the necessity of unmasking the redacted information to ensure the American public has access to what he describes as a “more complete picture” of the COVID-19 outbreak’s origins. He also requested a staff-level briefing on the records by May 14.

The inquiry into the pandemic’s origins follows the enactment of the COVID-19 Origin Act of 2023, signed by President Joe Biden, which mandates the U.S. government to declassify intelligence related to what might have led to the pandemic.

🚨BREAKING🚨

NEW State Department documents reviewed by @COVIDSelect suggest COVID-19 leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China and the CCP covered it up.

These classified documents were previously released in an unclassified and highly redacted FOIA production to @USRightToKnow.… pic.twitter.com/wPaAtrpstO

— Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic (@COVIDSelect) May 7, 2024