Topline
President Joe Biden’s administration shut down a clandestine State Department operation intended to prove the lab-based origins of Covid-19 over concerns about the work’s poor quality and its politicized, premature and selective use by Trump and his allies to blame the pandemic on China, according to CNN.
Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan is suspected to be involved in the origins of Covid, according ... [+]
Key Facts
The undisclosed project, run out of the arms control unit and led by then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, was established in late 2020 to investigate the possibility a Chinese bioweapons lab played a role in the pandemic’s origin, CNN reports, citing sources familiar with the matter.
It was swiftly shuttered by Biden’s team after they were briefed in February and March, CNN reports, citing concerns over the quality of the work and being a poor use of resources.
One former State Department official familiar with the project told CNN the way the team conducted its work was secretive and “suspicious as hell,” cutting out the Department’s technical experts and the intelligence community, prematurely briefing senior officials before work had concluded and, according to another source, excising experts critical of their science.
Those involved with the project defended the work, according to CNN, pointing to a close collaboration with the intelligence community and the deliberate use of “dissenting perspectives.”
Forbes has approached the State Department for comment.
Key Background
There is no clear evidence supporting the theory Covid-19 came from a lab—especially, as Pompeo’s program explored, an illegal biological weapons program—but the theory has gained ground in recent weeks as more and more experts concede it cannot be ruled out without more information. China’s lack of transparency on the issue has infuriated world leaders, who argue it is needlessly hindering a vital investigation for the world’s recovery, both during the official investigation into the pandemic’s origins and its obscuring during the early days of the pandemic. The continued uncertainty has fueled calls for another more open investigation that revisits China and is able to adequately address all theories on Covid’s origins.
Tangent
The investigation began a long time after Trump and Pompeo claimed to have substantial evidence supporting the theory, evidence that has still not been produced. Trump has said he is near certain the disease leaked from the lab after referencing the Journal article.
What To Watch For
The State Department is still working to investigate the lab leak hypothesis, according to a spokesperson speaking to CNN, who also confirmed the closure of the Trump-era inquiry. Pressure is also mounting on the international stage for another, freer probe into the pandemic’s origins. This is something China is unlikely to sanction, especially in light of the resurgent lab theory it vehemently rejects.
Further Reading
Did Covid-19 Come From A Lab? Most Likely Not, But The Jury’s Still Out (Forbes)
U.S. calls for 'transparent' new investigation into COVID origins (Reuters)
Trump: ‘I Have Very Little Doubt’ Covid Came From Wuhan Lab (Forbes)
WHO Reportedly Finds Animals Are Likely Source Of Covid-19–Lab Leak Theory Is ‘Extremely Unlikely’ (Forbes)
