Biden Signs Bill to Declassify COVID Origins Intelligence on Wuhan Lab

President Joe Biden has signed into law a bill that mandates the declassification of intelligence related to COVID origins. The President said that he shares Congress’s goal of releasing as much information as possible on this issue. The bill directs the Director of National Intelligence to declassify all information related to potential links between the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the origins of the COVID-19 virus.

Biden stated, “We need to get to the bottom of COVID-19’s origins to help ensure we can better prevent future pandemics,” adding that his administration will continue to review all classified information relating to COVID-19’s origins, including the potential links to the Wuhan lab.

The Wuhan Institute of Virology in China has been at the center of controversy as a suspected source where the coronavirus may have leaked. However, despite efforts to investigate the origin, the Chinese government has covered up cases, silenced whistleblowers, and repeatedly refused to allow outside investigators to access the Wuhan lab.

The bill earned the unanimous support of both the Senate and the House this month before arriving on Biden’s desk for final approval. Experts have also pointed out significant federal funding has been funneled to the Wuhan lab via a New York non-profit organisation, EcoHealth Alliance. Some of this funding has funded potentially dangerous ‘gain-of-function’ experiments, which allow viruses to become more lethal.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo), the Senate sponsor of the bill, said he was pleased with the news and added, “Let the people see for themselves!”

Biden said that while implementing the legislation, he would “declassify and share as much of that information as possible, consistent with my constitutional authority to protect against the disclosure of information that would harm national security.”

Steve Lance of NTD contributed to this report.