The FBI was notably absent from a secret intelligence briefing with President Joe Biden in 2021 that reviewed the origins of the Covid-19 virus, reports The Times (UK). Despite being the only agency to conclude with “moderate confidence” that the pandemic likely resulted from a lab leak, the FBI was not invited to present its findings at the high-level meeting.
In May 2021, the White House tasked multiple intelligence agencies and national laboratories with investigating the origins of the pandemic, focusing on whether the virus emerged naturally from animal-to-human transmission or escaped from a laboratory in China. The National Intelligence Council later synthesized the findings for a classified briefing with Biden in August 2021. While four agencies concluded that the pandemic had natural origins, the FBI was an outlier, asserting that a lab leak was the most plausible explanation.
According to Jason Bannan, a former FBI microbiologist who played a significant role in the agency’s investigation, the omission of the FBI from the briefing was unexpected. “Being the only agency that assessed that a laboratory origin was more likely, and the agency that expressed the highest level of confidence in its analysis of the source of the pandemic, we anticipated the FBI would be asked to attend the briefing,” Bannan told The Wall Street Journal. “I find it surprising that the White House didn’t ask.”
A spokesperson for Avril Haines, the director of national intelligence, defended the structure of the briefing, stating that the differing views of the intelligence community were adequately represented. It was also noted that inviting representatives from each agency was not standard practice.
The investigation faced significant obstacles, including limited cooperation from China. Intelligence agencies, including the CIA and the Department of Energy, were given 90 days to compile and review evidence. The final report, declassified in June 2022 following a Congressional vote, found no definitive evidence supporting either theory but did not rule out the possibility of a man-made origin.
The divided views of the intelligence community were evident in the report. Four agencies, including the CIA, supported the theory of natural transmission. In contrast, the FBI and the Department of Energy leaned toward the lab leak hypothesis, with the latter expressing “low confidence” in its conclusion.
Adding to the controversy, Bannan revealed that a genomic analysis conducted by three scientists at the National Center for Medical Intelligence suggested the virus had been created in a laboratory. However, their findings were reportedly suppressed, and they were instructed not to share their research with the FBI. This analysis was excluded from the final intelligence report presented to Biden.
Bannan has called for a reassessment of the evidence, urging a deeper review of what was left out of the intelligence community’s report. “What ended up on the intelligence community’s cutting-room floor needs to be re-examined,” he said.
The origins of Covid-19 remain a contentious issue, with ongoing scrutiny in Congress and public debates among scientists and officials. Earlier this month, a Republican-led committee on Covid-19 reiterated that the virus likely emerged from a “laboratory or research-related accident.” China, however, has consistently rejected the lab leak theory, maintaining that the pandemic originated naturally.
