U.S. Senate Report Concludes Covid Pandemic ‘Likely’ Originated with Leak from Wuhan Lab
ProPublica, in collaboration with Vanity Fair, also published a report that drew the same conclusions.
Republicans on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee have been investigating the cause of the pandemic origin. Ahead of issuing the formal findings, Senator Richard Burr (NC) recently offered an interim report concluding that “the COVID-19 pandemic was, more likely than not, the result of a research-related incident.”
“While precedent of previous outbreaks of human infections from contact with animals favors the hypothesis that a natural zoonotic spillover is responsible for the origin of SARS-CoV-2, the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 that resulted in the COVID-19 pandemic was most likely the result of a research-related incident,” the report’s introduction reads. “This conclusion is not intended to be dispositive. The lack of transparency from government and public health officials in the PRC with respect to the origins of SARS-CoV-2 prevents reaching a more definitive conclusion.”
In a release, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, of which Burr is ranking member, says there is “substantial evidence” suggesting that this was the cause of the pandemic, and that a research-related incident is consistent with early epidemiology showing the spread of the virus in the same district as the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
The senators cited a pattern of “persistent biosafety problems” at the institute and said that there are evidentiary “gaps” in scientific research that point to a natural zoonotic spillover from animals sold at a market in Wuhan.
Legal Insurrection readers will hardly be surprised at the findings. We first reported the likely source of covid, a lab leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, in February of 2020.
In summary, somebody was entangled with the evolution of 2019-nCoV coronavirus. In addition to origins of natural recombination and intermediate host, the killer coronavirus probably originated from a laboratory in Wuhan. Safety level may need to be reinforced in high risk biohazardous laboratories. Regulations may be taken to relocate these laboratories far away from city center and other densely populated places.
However, reports like this were suppressed in early 2020 as “conspiracy theories” and “misinformation.” It appears that yesterday’s conspiracy theories are today’s breaking news.
Lest I leave the impression that it is only Republicans who now support the lab leak theory, ProPublica/Vanity Fair released a report making similar assertions.
The ProPublica/Vanity Fair investigative piece also shared shocking new details behind the suspicious Wuhan, China lab believed to be ground zero for the deadly virus — including inhumane and unsafe working conditions and rushed deadlines shortly before the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in the country.
The Wuhan Institute of Virology [WIV], a state-run and funded research facility home to China’s riskiest coronavirus research, had been under immense pressure by the ruling Chinese Communist Party [CCP] to produce scientific breakthroughs to raise China’s global status despite lacking resources, the ProPublica/Vanity Fair report said.
…Toy Reid, a career specialist for the RAND Corporation and former political officer in East Asia for the US State Department, was a member of the nine-person investigative team tasked with finding the cause of the virus, commissioned by Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), according to the ProPublica/Vanity Fair report.
For 15 months, Reid used his skill translating CCP “party speak,” — a veiled language used by party officials when talking about something potentially embarrassing — while reviewing troves of archives on the WIV’s website, according to the report.
CCP dispatches reviewed by Reid reportedly signaled that the institute faced a serious safety emergency in November 2019 — weeks before China officially confirmed that people had been infected by the virus.
The piece is detailed, and it appears authors Katherine Eban (Vanity Fair) and Jeff Kao (ProPublica) did a deep dive into the available material.
Vanity Fair and ProPublica downloaded more than 500 documents from the WIV website, including party branch dispatches from 2017 to the present. To assess Reid’s interpretation, we sent key documents to experts on CCP communications. They told us that the WIV dispatches did indeed signal that the institute faced an acute safety emergency in November 2019; that officials at the highest levels of the Chinese government weighed in; and that urgent action was taken in an effort to address ongoing safety issues. The documents do not make clear who was responsible for the crisis, which laboratory it affected specifically or what the exact nature of the biosafety emergency was.
The interim report also raises questions about how quickly vaccines were developed in China by some teams, including one led by a military virologist named Zhou Yusen. The report called it “unusual” that two military COVID-19 vaccine development teams were able to reach early milestones even faster than the major drug companies who were part of the U.S. government’s Operation Warp Speed program.
Neither outlet is exactly known for being right-wing organizations. Yet their assessment also corresponds to an earlier timeline developed by the Republican members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee about the origins of the SARS-Cov-2 pathogen and the point source of the pandemic. It was pretty damning for the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV).
Laughably, the New York Times completely dismissed that Senate Committee’s report as “a new wave of political wrangling” over Covid’s origins if Republicans gain control of the House or Senate.
Scientists are bracing for a new wave of political wrangling over the origins of the virus in the coming year, especially if Republican backers of the lab leak theory take control of committees in the House or Senate.
Several researchers who have studied the beginnings of the pandemic, though, described the Burr report as a step backward in the effort to understand that period.
Does that mean Republicans will pounce or seize on this matter after the results of the upcoming wave election results are tallied?
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Comments
How much did they spend to find out what everybody already knew?
I was pretty sure that it came from the lab early on, in my mind the only question was the release an accident or was it the lady form China’s germ warfare group who took over the lab, I am still betting on intentional release.
30 seconds of research on Pubmed proves the report is wrong.
1 second of research proves Juris Doctor is an idiot.
As timely and useful as most products of this Senate.
Does anybody know when the report is due from the Senate Shape of The Earth Committee? The wife and I are planning our second honeymoon in Australia for our 50th, and we want to make sure it’s actually a real place before we spend good money on tickets.
So the theory that a bat flew out of a cave and flew 400+ miles, landed in the soup of a Wuhan lab scientist who got infected and spread it to his fellow scientists at the lab is not true? But Dr. Doom told us it was!
I think he had to have sex with a pangolin on the way or somethin’.
I’m looking forward to ProPublica’s and Vanity Fair’s report on the Narrows Bridge Collapse.
My god, the naivete that accompanies the analysis of the Wuhan virus onset is indefensible and appalling. We’ve moved from the idiotic “wet market” notion to the allegedly “accidental” lab leak. “Accidental” my rear end. This was clearly an intentional attack by the Chinese communist regime, clearly a test-run and prelude to something that they’re cooking up which will be a lot worse. The Chinese witnessed the Dumb-o-crats’ utterly vindictive and lawless subversion/sabotage of President Trump’s administration and understood that they could manipulate the situation to their advantage, with a well-timed act of biowarfare.
And, the west’s utterly emasculated and feckless reaction to China’s attack, and, its failure to hold them accountable and to impose punishment, ensures that the next attack will involved a much more contagious and deadly agent.
‘Senate report.’ Ok, fine. When will Fauci be tried and executed for his crimes against humanity?
Takes a bow. Now understand it was released on purpose. And our government including the republican party were in on the entire scam.
I don’t buy the ‘released on purpose’. That doesn’t change the facts. The US govt funded questionable research. Some of that in China at this lab. The Chinese govt hid the release. When the virus got into the the rest of the world the Chinese went into CYA mode.
The individuals in our own govt who’s fingerprints were all over funding approval and academic collaboration with this research began to cover their tracks and sought to deflect blame. Both the Chinese and US govt and the persons in govt who allowed this research had the incentive to claim wiped mutation, no lab research.
Intentionally released or not the actions of the Chinese allowed this to spread as they made plans and began scooping up PPE and anything else to help them while telling the world that nothing was happening. Our govt bungled the response by over reaction and continued series of policy flip flops and outright lies.
Everyone who’s fingerprints are on this series of intentional lies and distortions to shut down our Nation must be held accountable.
The Chinese did more than hide the release. They were instrumental in spreading it to the rest of the world by restricting domestic travel into and out of Wuhan Province (protecting themselves) but allowing foreign travel to and from Wuhan Province. Nice people those China communists.
Our own government response to a non life threatening virus proves they knew what it was and were in on the release.
The economy was booming age getting ready to take off. They could not have that so they had to come up with a method to kill it off. When that didn’t do Trump in they used it to steal the election.
Clear.As.A.Bell.
I’m not sure if it was released on purpose but the lab was funded by the US. China allowed airline flights out of China while locking down some citizens. That spread the Wu-Flu worldwide. Meanwhile China was welding the doors shut. Seems like a plan to me.
China is still suffering from the pandemic, and it looks like no vaccine will ever block transmission..
This is pretty much true of every upper respiratory virus, because the viruses replicate before entering the bloodstream and triggering the immune system..
So deliberate release would be insane.
Not insane to corrupt killers intent upon enslaving you and needing Trump out of the way to do it.
The question is: What was coded/programmed into the Lab Created Artificial mRNA that instructs your natural DNA to perform… whatever action that is “programmed” in the Lab Created Artificial mRNA?
But never mind that.
The fake Covid Vax for the fake Covid must be working.
We are no longer incessantly 24/7 hearing…
The Co-vid is everywhere. The Co-vid is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see Co-vid when you look out your window or when you turn on your television. You can feel Co-vid when you go to work… when you go to church… when you pay your taxes.
And Nurses are no longer doing the Covid dance.
But… but… but…
There’s a fact witness from China who said it
a) IS a bioweapon
and
b) The release was intentional