Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) took to Twitter to react to a report published by The Wall Street Journal about the origin of COVID-19.
The report is titled, “Lab Leak Most Likely Origin of Covid-19 Pandemic, Energy Department Now Says.”
In response, Paul tweeted, “Classified documents leaked (they should be declassified!) showing scientists at DOE believe COVID leaked from Wuhan Lab.”
Classified documents leaked (they should be declassified!) showing scientists at DOE believe COVID leaked from Wuhan Lab https://t.co/glETIVPe5z
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) February 27, 2023
The Journal reported the “shift” by the Energy Department has been pointed out in an updated version of a 2021 document by the office of Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines.
“The new report highlights how different parts of the intelligence community have arrived at disparate judgments about the pandemic’s origin. The Energy Department now joins the Federal Bureau of Investigation in saying the virus likely spread via a mishap at a Chinese laboratory,” the Journal reported.
It continues, “Four other agencies, along with a national intelligence panel, still judge that it was likely the result of a natural transmission, and two are undecided.”
Individuals who have reviewed the classified report told the outlet the Energy Department made its judgment with “low confidence.”
U.S. national-security adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday, “President Biden specifically requested that the national labs, which are part of the Energy Department, be brought into this assessment because he wants to put every tool at use to be able to figure out what happened here.”
He explained there are a “variety of views in the intelligence community.”
Sullivan added, “A number of them have said they just don’t have enough information.”
David Relman, a microbiologist at Stanford University, expressed his appreciation for those willing to re-examine the origins of the virus.
“Kudos to those who are willing to set aside their preconceptions and objectively re-examine what we know and don’t know about Covid origins,” Relman told the Journal.
He continued, “My plea is that we not accept an incomplete answer or give up because of political expediency.”
An Energy Department spokesperson said in a statement the agency “continues to support the thorough, careful, and objective work of our intelligence professionals in investigating the origins of COVID-19, as the President directed.”
Paul previously pressed former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Dr. Anthony Fauci on the origin of the virus.
In December, Paul told Fox News, “We’re not done with him yet.”
He added, “I think Dr. Fauci actually made one of the worst judgments in modern medical history by funding for over a decade of dangerous gain-of-function research, which many of us believe leaked from the lab, inadvertently.”
As Fox News explains, gain-of-function research “often includes intentionally altering viruses to be more pathogenic or transmissible as a means to develop preemptive treatments for deadly diseases.”
