US split on origins of Covid-19, according to intelligence report

US intelligence services have concluded that, while there is no direct evidence of Covid-19 being released from a Chinese laboratory, the potential of it being a natural or artificial origin is still plausible. Their evaluation also suggested that the virus was not deliberately altered or manipulated. This point has been strongly refuted by China and has caused considerable controversy in America.

As a result of a bill passed by Congress in March, US intelligence was given 90 days to declassify the information it had about the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) on Friday night. "The Central Intelligence Agency and another agency remain unable to determine the precise origin of the Covid-19 pandemic, since both (natural and lab) hypotheses rely on significant assumptions or face challenges with conflicting reporting," said the 10-page report.

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As a result of the findings, four agencies believe that the virus spread from animals to humans, while two other agencies - the Energy Department and the FBI - maintain that the virus spread from a laboratory. Despite the findings that the US intelligence community still couldn't rule out the possibility that the virus came from a laboratory, the report states that Covid-19 wasn't developed as a biological weapon.

The report stated that the WIV and Chinese army had collaborated on coronaviruses for public health, but not on infections that could have been the source of Covid-19. According to the report, scientists at the WIV have created "chimeras," or combinations of coronaviruses, and used reverse genetic cloning to conceal intentional changes.

According to the report, some researchers did not take adequate biosafety precautions before the pandemic. However, US intelligence does not know if there was a specific biosafety incident at the Wuhan lab that led to the outbreak of Covid-19. A number of researchers there became ill in autumn of 2019, but their illnesses could have been caused by a number of diseases, and some of their symptoms were not consistent with Covid-19, according to the report.

Why Covid lab-leak theory is so disputed by FBI Chief

John Ratcliffe, who served as US Director of National Intelligence under former President Donald Trump, responded to the report by accusing President Joe Biden's administration of "continued obfuscation". He said in a statement: "The lab-leak is the only theory supported by science, intelligence, and common sense." The WIV - which is situated just 40 minutes away from Huanan wet market - has raised eyebrows since it is where the initial Covid cases emerged late in 2019. Additionally, the 2021 joint China-World Health Organization investigation found this theory to be "extremely unlikely", however many felt this report had caused more confusion than resolution. Consequently, some experts feel we may never know the real source of Covid-19 which has sadly taken nearly seven million lives worldwide.

 

Adam Schiff Gets John Durham to Admit Russia Helped Trump

When Republican Special Counsel John Durham gave House Judiciary comments on Wednesday, he thought it was an opportunity to score points on Democrats, particularly Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), for any criticism. of the. Spending years in relationships. .

What they got in return was a brief moment when Schiff found Hum — the man tasked with concluding that the FBI's investigation into Russia's links to the 2016 disease campaign was justified. . — Durham at work.A former manager of the impeachment inquiry against Chef Druze questioned the president's release of information about the 2016 election that exposed Russian hacking. Durham repeatedly insisted that he had no knowledge of this. But in the midst of the exchange, Drumm made it clear that he did not doubt the veracity of any implication that Russia was trying to help — something most Republicans have vehemently denied.

Reuters/Elizabeth Frantz

When Republicans brought Special Counsel John Durham to the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, they thought it would be an opportunity to score points against Democrats, particularly Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who has criticized Donald Trump's impeachment inquiry. Criticized Russia. Spent years building connections with

What they got instead was a viral moment when Schiff found Durham — the man tasked with concluding whether the FBI's investigation into Russia's ties to the Trump campaign in 2016 was appropriate. were - Took Durham to work.

Schiff, the former impeachment manager against Trump, questioned Durham about whether President Trump disclosed information released by Russian hackers during the 2016 election. Durham repeatedly insisted he had no knowledge of the matter. But during the exchange, Durham made it clear that he did not doubt the authenticity of the evidence showing Russia was trying to help Trump — something many Republicans have vehemently denied.

"I don't think there's any question that the Russians hacked the system, they released the information," Durham said.

"And it was helpful for the Trump campaign, right?" asked the chef.

After trying to deflect the question, Durham agreed that the Russians had been helpful to the Trump campaign.

"And Trump used it, like I said, didn't he use stolen documents a hundred times during the campaign," Schiff said.

Durham said he "didn't really read the papers, or listen to the news."

"So I don't know that," he said.

"Were you completely oblivious to Donald Trump's use of stolen emails a hundred times during the campaign?" asked the chef. "Did that escape your attention?"

Durham replied that he was not aware of this.

The exchange was one of several tense moments between Schiff and Durham throughout the day as Republicans backed Durham's report, insisting the FBI was investigating possible collusion between Trump and Russia in the 2016 election. Is. Should not have investigated.

More specifically, Durham appears to be unaware of the important facts of the alliance between the campaign and Russia. That ignorance came to the fore in several awkward exchanges with Democrats on the House Judiciary Commission.

This has been questioned by Eric Sowell-Durham about how Weill has said he "tried a real deal in Moscow and hid it from the public." It was a deal, detailed in Mueller's report, in which the Russian government promised to license one of the towers to Moscow. The proposed payment, the public gathering about it at the time and at the time, caused a lot of damage to Russia on its campaign. Drum replied, "I don't know anything about that."