The director of the FBI, Christopher Wray, has weighed in on the debate over the origin of the COVID-19 virus, using an appearance on Fox News to support the theory that the virus likely originated from a leak in a Chinese lab.
“The FBI has long assessed that the origin of the pandemic is a possible laboratory incident in Wuhan,” Ray told Fox News’ Bret Baier. had been organized and “our work related to this is ongoing”.
Wray’s high-profile public remarks highlighted divisions within the US intelligence community about the origins of the pandemic, with some federal agencies including the FBI and the Department of Energy concluding that the Covid-19 virus likely originated from a lab leak in China. Is. , while others have concluded that it was first spread to humans from infected animals.
Ray’s public support of the lab leak theory contradicts the findings of several major scientific studies, as well as assessments by some other US intelligence agencies. Ray did not explain the evidence that informed the FBI’s conclusion. “There aren’t a lot of details I can share that aren’t classified,” he said.
The Central Intelligence Agency and another major US federal agency are still undecided about the origin of Covid-19, while the National Intelligence Council and four other agencies have concluded that the virus originated in animals, The Wall Street Journal reported this week. Did.
The Department of Energy also concluded in a classified intelligence report that a lab leak most likely caused COVID-19, but made this assessment with “low confidence”, while the FBI in 2021 with “moderate confidence” reached the same conclusion, reported The Wall Street Journal.
“While I believe the ‘lab leak’ theory is a real possibility, I should point out that [energy department’s] The agency has ‘low confidence’ in that assessment and their assessment has not changed any of the other agencies’ minds,” Dr Filippa Lentzos, a Reader in Science and International Security at King’s College London, previously told the Guardian.
Some scientists who have studied the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic have pushed back against the endorsement of the lab leak theory by US agencies. Scientists also note that, unlike peer-reviewed scientific studies, the US intelligence assessments being debated do not provide public transparency about whether they draw their conclusions or the information they submit. How to access the evidence
“Two prior studies – one of which I co-authored – used multiple lines of evidence to clearly demonstrate that epidemics occur in human populations at least twice over a period of approximately two weeks or in association with live Hunan emerged immediately above the market. animal trade,” Angie Rasmussen, a professor at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, told the Guardian this week.
Wray’s public comments come at a time of heightened tensions between the US and China, sparked an international controversy after the discovery of a Chinese spy balloon, and have been used by both Republicans and Democrats to criticize the leadership of the opposing party Was.