CONSENSUS

Intelligence Community: COVID-19 ‘Not Man Made or Genetically Modified’

The IC said it’s still probing “whether the outbreak began through contact with infected animals or if it was the result of an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan.”

The United States Intelligence Community agrees with “wide scientific consensus” that the coronavirus “was not man made or genetically modified,” according to a statement released Thursday. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence said it will “continue to rigorously examine emerging information and intelligence” to determine the origin of the coronavirus, specifically “whether the outbreak began through contact with infected animals or if it was the result of an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan.” “The entire Intelligence Community has been consistently providing critical support to U.S. policymakers and those responding to the COVID-19 virus, which originated in China.”

The statement comes amid reports that senior Trump administration officials have been pressuring intelligence agencies to track down evidence of an unfounded theory the coronavirus originated in a Wuhan laboratory. However, scientists who have studied the genetics of the virus have rejected that theory, asserting that it was most likely transferred from animals to humans.