Zerohedge: New Documents Reveal US Lab Saw COVID Lab-Origin as Serious Possibility in 2020

Summary

Newly declassified documents released by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard show that a U.S. national laboratory assessed the COVID-19 lab-origin hypothesis as a serious possibility as early as May 2020. An assessment from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Z Program concluded that all necessary conditions for an accidental release of a modified coronavirus were present at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in mid-to-late 2019, assigning equal weight to lab and natural origins. The documents also reveal U.S.-funded coronavirus research, including planning for spike-protein modifications, receptor-adaptation experiments, and testing in humanized mice, conducted in collaboration with Wuhan researchers. These findings challenge the narrative promoted at the time that COVID-19 had a natural origin. Further emails and documents indicate Anthony Fauci was involved in discussions with intelligence officials regarding COVID origins and the Wuhan lab, and that he provided input on briefings and recommended scientists for consultation. The released materials also include details from EcoHealth Alliance's NIH grant, outlining research plans that involved sequencing bat coronavirus spike genes and creating mutants for receptor evolution and infection experiments in humanized mice, techniques that overlap with discussions about SARS-CoV-2's characteristics. The documents suggest that elements within the Intelligence Community may have worked to suppress information about the lab-origin hypothesis and Fauci's role in directing U.S. funding for this research.