by WASHINGTON — The Department of Energy concluded with “low confidence” that the Covid-19 pandemic “likely” originated from a laboratory leak in Wuhan, China, according to a classified report provided to key lawmakers on the Intelligence Committees of the House and the Senate, two sources with direct knowledge told NBC News.
Key lawmakers on the intelligence committees were briefed last month by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence about the classified report, the sources said.
The news was first reported by The Wall Street Journal on Sunday.
However, a source warned NBC News that the DOE’s conclusion was not considered very significant among the intelligence community due to interagency disagreements over the origins of Covid.
An Energy Department spokesperson told NBC News that the agency “continues to support the thorough, careful, and objective work of our intelligence professionals in investigating the origins of COVID-19, as directed by the President.”
Sen. Dan Sullivan, Republican of Alaska, on Sunday called for “extensive public hearings” if the US intelligence community conclusively determines that Covid-19 leaked from a Chinese laboratory.
Asked on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” about what the consequences should be if the US makes that determination and then finds out the Chinese government covered it up, Sullivan said lawmakers must first “have public hearings on this. and really dig in.” he.”
“Think about what has just happened in the last three years, one of the biggest pandemics in a century. There is a lot of evidence that it came from the Chinese,” Sullivan said.
China has denied that Covid originated from a laboratory leak, previously calling the theory a “conspiracy.”
House Republicans have launched their own investigations into the origins of the pandemic.
ODNI responded to a February 13 letter from Representatives James Comer, Chairman of the Oversight Committee, and Brad Wenstrup, Chairman of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, requesting “information on the origins of COVID-19,” a spokesperson said. of the Oversight Committee told NBC News on Sunday. The committee is “reviewing the classified information provided,” the spokesperson said.
The White House referred NBC News to ODNI for comment.
When asked about the classified report on Sunday, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said there is “no definitive answer” from the intelligence community about the origins of Covid.
“There are a variety of views in the intelligence community. Some elements of the intelligence community have reached conclusions on one side, others on the other. Several of them have said that they simply don’t have enough information to be sure,” Jake Sullivan said in CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“If we get any more knowledge or information, we will share it with Congress and we will share it with the American people,” added Jake Sullivan. “But at this time, no definitive answer has emerged from the intelligence community on this question.”
