Congress unanimously passes bill to declassify origins of Covid-19

Congress has officially passed a bill aimed at forcing the White House to declassify intelligence reports on the true origins of the Covid-19 virus, with the House on Friday unanimously passing its version of the Senate bill which also passed with unanimous consent last week.

As the New York Post reports, the 419-0 decision will send the measure to the desk of Joe Biden, who has not yet indicated his stance on vetoing the legislation.



If signed by Biden, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines will be required to declassify "any and all information relating to potential links between the Wuhan Institute of Virology" and Covid-19, as well as "make available to the public as much information as possible" regarding its origin.

According to Republican House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner, the legislation is aimed at helping the public understand "why the FBI director has indicated that a COVID-19 lab leak is not just a possibility, but approaches the idea that is likely."

"[The information provides] a unique insight as to what was happening at biosafety level laboratory in Wuhan, China, in late 2019 and early 2020," Turner added during a Tuesday hearing on the subject. "The laboratory and who was working there might be the key to unraveling the truth."

In February, the US Department of Energy (DOE) joined the FBI in suspecting that Covid leaked from a Wuhan, China lab after discovering "new intelligence."

As the Wall Street Journal reported, "The Energy Department's conclusion is the result of new intelligence and is significant because the agency has considerable scientific expertise and oversees a network of US national laboratories, some of which conduct advanced biological research."

On March 1, FBI director Christopher Wray confirmed in an interview with Fox News that his agency believed the lab leak hypothesis was the most probable explanation for the origins of Covid-19, saying "The FBI has for quite some time now assessed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan."
 
Though the lab leak theory has yet to 100 percent confirmed by the intelligence community, Democratic Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut said this week that the declassification could mean that "the American people can consider the best available information we have, as opposed to marinating and conjecture and speculation and conspiracy theories."