The Energy Department has determined a Chinese lab leak was the most likely cause of COVID-19, according to The Wall Street Journal. The new assessment is a shift from the department’s previous uncertainty regarding COVID’s origin and came after new intelligence was assessed. An updated “low confidence” report was then delivered to the White House and certain members of Congress. The report makes the Energy Department one of two U.S. agencies that believe a lab leak was responsible for COVID; the other is the FBI. The FBI declined to comment regarding the new assessment, but National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on CNN’s State of the Union that there was not yet a definitive answer across the entire intelligence community.
