Biden asks US intel officials to investigate COVID-19 origin
By: ZEKE MILLER and AAMER MADHANI (MSN)
As time moves on in this regime, the more we see Mr. Biden's predecessor was correct. The wall, foreign policy, and now this.
Shouldn't have chased Mr. Trump off .............but it is hilarious to read the walk backs LMAO
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday asked U.S. intelligence officials to "redouble" their efforts to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, including any possibility the trail might lead to a Chinese lab.
After months of minimizing that possibility as a fringe theory, the Biden administration is responding to both U.S. and world pressure for China to be more open about the outbreak.
Biden asked U.S. intelligence agencies to report back on their findings within 90 days. He directed U.S. national laboratories to assist with the investigation and called on China to cooperate with international probes into the origins of the pandemic.
Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, have promoted the theory that the virus emerged from a laboratory accident rather than naturally through human contact with an infected animal.
Biden in a statement said the majority of the intelligence community had "coalesced" around those two likely scenarios but "do not believe there is sufficient information to assess one to be more likely than the other." He revealed that two agencies lean toward the animal link and "one leans more toward" the lab theory, adding, "each with low or moderate confidence."
"The United States will also keep working with like-minded partners around the world to press China to participate in a full, transparent, evidence-based international investigation and to provide access to all relevant data and evidence," said Biden.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday that the White House supports a new World Health Organization investigation in China, but she added that an effective probe "would require China finally stepping up and allowing access needed to determine the origins."
Biden still held out the possibility that a firm conclusion may never be reached, given the Chinese government's refusal to fully cooperate with international investigations.
"The failure to get our inspectors on the ground in those early months will always hamper any investigation into the origin of COVID-19," he said.
Administration officials still harbor strong doubts about the lab leak theory. They view China's refusal to cooperate in the investigation — particularly on something of such magnitude — as emblematic of other irresponsible actions on the world stage.
Privately, administration officials say the end result, if ever known, won't change anything, but note China's stonewalling is now on display for the world to see.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, a White House coronavirus adviser, said Wednesday that he and most others in the scientific community "believe that the most likely scenario is that this was a natural occurrence, but one knows that 100 percent for sure."
"And since there's a lot of concern, a lot of speculation and since no one absolutely knows that, I believe we do need the kind of investigation where there's open transparency and all the information that's available, to be made available, to scrutinize," Fauci said at a Senate hearing.
Andy Slavitt, Biden's senior adviser for the coronavirus, said Tuesday that the world needs to "get to the bottom ... whatever the answer may be."
"We need a completely transparent process from China; we need the WHO to assist in that matter,"" Slavitt said. "We don't feel like we have that now."
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Damn this sounds like a familiar stance.
Can I yawn without you bringing in TPTB? I've gone a whole day without their thorns and shackles.
Anyway, gotta run, my niece is graduating from Arts College and she and her fellow students are having an online show.
Any credible investigation cannot be run by the WHO.
How about Biden declassifying any information on US funding of experiments at the Wuhan lab?
China Joe is going to get his son's financial perks canceled if he keeps this up.
Guess campaign rhetoric can only get someone so far when the reality of the office hits. This is his shit show now; and the media is too busy covering up and ignoring his other disasters to miss this one.
Next thing you know Biden will be telling us all how this pandemic is "China's fault and they need to be held accountable for their cover up; and not containing it's spread."
Of course, if China Joe hadn't stopped the ongoing investigation into Covid's origins when he assumed office, we might have answers already