COVID originsLab-Leak of Genetically Modified Virus: Lawmakers’ Report

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, released on Monday a third installment in his investigation into the origins of the virus and the missteps by China in alerting the world to the risks of the pandemic.

The report — The Origins of COVID-19 – says that the preponderance of evidence suggests that the pandemic outbreak stemmed from a genetically modified virus which leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, located in the Chinese city where the virus was first detected in December 2019.

Here is the report’s Conclusion:

The Intelligence Community 90-day review report on the origins of COVID-19, ordered by President Biden, is due no later than August 24, 2021. While based on open source information, it is the hope of Committee Minority Staff that the collection and analysis contained within this addendum, produced at the direction of Ranking Member Michael T. McCaul, will help inform the public debate about the viability of a laboratory accident being the source of SARS-CoV-2. It is vital the public discourse surround the Wuhan Institute of Virology is transparent, honest, and detailed.

It is the opinion of Committee Minority Staff, based on the preponderance of available information; the documented efforts to obfuscate, hide, and destroy evidence; and the lack of physical evidence to the contrary; that SARS-CoV-2 was accidentally released from a Wuhan Institute of Virology laboratory sometime prior to September 12, 2019. The virus, which may be natural in origin or the result of genetic manipulation, was likely collected in the identified cave in Yunnan province, PRC, sometime between 2012 and 2015. Its release was due to poor lab safety standards and practices, exacerbated by dangerous gain-of-function research being conducted at inadequate biosafety levels, including BSL-2. The virus was then spread throughout central Wuhan, likely via the Wuhan Metro, in the weeks prior to the Military World Games. Those games became an international vector, spreading the virus to multiple continents around the world.

It is incumbent on the parties identified in this report to respond to the issues raised herein and provide clarity and any new or additional evidence as soon as possible. As always, Committee Minority Staff stands ready to receive such evidence or testimony that supports or contradicts this report. Until such time as the Chinese Communist Party lifts its self-imposed veil of secrecy, explains its lies regarding the early stages of the pandemic, and provides access to the WIV’s archives and sample database, questions will remain as to the origins of SARS-CoV-2 and the COVID-19 pandemic. Until that day, it is incumbent upon the United States and likeminded countries around the world to ensure accountability, and implement the reforms necessary to prevent the CCP’s malfeasance from giving rise to a third pandemic during the 21st century.