As the world continues to recover from the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, and with a new U.S. administration on the way that appears poised to take strong accountability measures against China on issues including fentanyl trafficking and foreign interference, a 500-page congressional report suggests the virus most likely originated from a laboratory accident covered up by scientists around the world. This jarring conclusion raises serious questions about transparency and accountability, and could deepen distrust in government institutions both in the U.S. and globally. It also implies that the Wuhan lab-leak theory, long dismissed as a conspiracy, is now supported by senior intelligence officials, leading scientists, and investigative reports.
“Four years after the onset of the worst pandemic in 100 years, the weight of the evidence increasingly supports the lab leak hypothesis. Since the Select Subcommittee commenced its work in February 2023, more and more senior intelligence officials, politicians, science editors, and scientists increasingly have endorsed the hypothesis that COVID-19 emerged as the result of a laboratory or research-related accident,” the report states.
Former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe emphasized the stark imbalance in evidence between competing theories of the virus’s origin during his testimony in April 2023, it says.
“My informed assessment as a person with as much access as anyone to our government’s intelligence during the initial year of the pandemic has been and continues to be that a lab leak is the only explanation credibly supported by our intelligence, by science, and by commonsense,” Ratcliffe said. He described the lab leak evidence as “long, convincing, even overwhelming,” while the natural spillover theory was “nearly empty and tenuous.”
Adding to this case, Dr. Ashish K. Jha, the Biden-Harris Administration’s COVID-19 Response Coordinator, wrote in November 2024, “Chinese senior military officers have been writing for years about the potential benefits of offensive biological warfare.” Jha also acknowledged the possibility that the COVID-19 virus accidentally leaked from a lab. This acknowledgment underscores broader concerns about China’s biological research, where blurred lines between civilian and military programs have raised persistent alarms.
The report also takes aim at Dr. Peter Daszak and his controversial research group EcoHealth Alliance, which is now under a Department of Justice investigation for its pandemic-era activities, it says. Daszak’s group used U.S. taxpayer dollars to facilitate gain-of-function research in Wuhan, the report charges.
At the center of these concerns is the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), a facility with a documented history of high-risk gain-of-function research. According to the congressional report, “The WIV has a published record of conducting ‘gain-of-function’ research to engineer chimeric viruses.” The June 2023 ODNI Assessment further detailed how WIV scientists created combinations of SARS-like coronaviruses through genetic engineering, cloned unrelated viruses, and employed techniques that could obscure intentional modifications.
As The Bureau has previously reported, Canadian intelligence documents link a suspected Chinese military agent that was operating in Canada’s Level 4 Pathogen Lab to Daszak and a group of US scientists collaborating on coronavirus research with senior WIV scientists, although there is no evidence linking the Canada-based scientist to the suspected Wuhan lab-leak.
The suspected People’s Liberation Army agent Dr. Qiu, along with Dr. Shi Zhengli, Ralph Baric and Peter Daszak met together for an October 2018 symposium at WIV, The Bureau has reported.
The WIV’s documented safety lapses have added to the scrutiny. Researchers at the institute conducted experiments under BSL-2 protocols, which require minimal protective measures compared to the more rigorous BSL-3 standards mandated in the United States for similar work, the Congressional report says. Former CDC Director Robert Redfield highlighted the risks inherent in such practices, stating, “The data indicates COVID-19 infections more likely were the result of an accidental lab leak than a natural spillover event.”
The congressional report also criticizes Beijing for its handling of the pandemic’s early weeks, including delaying investigations, suppressing key data, and silencing whistleblowers. The WIV’s reported collaboration with the Chinese military has only deepened suspicions about the lab’s dual-use research capabilities and potential ties to broader bioweapons programs.
The report calls for stronger global oversight and accountability, warning that without systemic reforms, the world remains vulnerable to similar crises in the future. As the U.S. administration considers significant policy measures, including economic sanctions, these findings could mark a turning point in the global response to the origins of COVID-19.
More to come