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FBI Lab Leak Evidence Excluded from Biden Briefing
FBI's Covid lab leak evidence excluded from Biden briefing, sparking renewed debate.
Photo of covid, astrazeneca, vaccination, and vaccine by Mathurin NAPOLY / matnapo (@matnapo)
The FBI concluded with “moderate confidence” that Covid-19 likely originated from a laboratory leak, yet was excluded from briefing President Joe Biden during the National Intelligence Council’s (NIC) review of the pandemic’s origins, it has been claimed.
Jason Bannan, a former FBI senior scientist and microbiologist, revealed the agency’s findings were not presented to the White House, despite being the only U.S. intelligence agency to assert with higher confidence that a lab leak was plausible. The NIC, tasked with coordinating the investigation, instead presented a consensus suggesting with “low confidence” that the virus originated from animal-to-human transmission.
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Bannan, who had been part of the FBI’s biological warfare team post-9/11, criticized the decision, stating, “Being the only agency that assessed that a laboratory origin was more likely...we anticipated the FBI would be asked to attend the briefing. I find it surprising that the White House didn’t ask.”
The August 2021 briefing, led by Avril Haines, director of national intelligence (DNI), presented findings from four intelligence agencies supporting the natural origin theory. A DNI spokeswoman defended the process, stating that the intelligence community's views were fairly represented and agency representatives were not customarily invited to such briefings.
The FBI’s assessment was based on its investigation into the Wuhan Institute of Virology, where scientists had genetically engineered coronaviruses. Declassified U.S. documents also highlighted genomic analysis by three National Center for Medical Intelligence scientists who concluded that the virus’s spike protein was likely engineered using techniques described in a 2008 Chinese research paper.
The broader intelligence review published in 2021 noted that confirming Covid-19's origin would be challenging without cooperation from China. To date, Beijing has only provided a joint report with the World Health Organization in 2021, claiming the virus likely moved from bats to humans via an intermediate animal host.
More than three years after the pandemic's onset, the debate over Covid-19's origins remains contentious, with U.S. agencies, Congress, and experts continuing to explore the evidence. Bannan has called for a reassessment of the lab leak evidence, asserting, “What ended up on the intelligence community’s cutting-room floor needs to be re-examined."
