Republican congressmen in the US House of Representatives demanded that the Department of Energy, the State Department and the FBI provide documents related to the origin of the coronavirus, after the publication in the media of findings regarding the laboratory leak of COVID-19.
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On Sunday, the Wall Street Journal, citing sources, reported that the US Department of Energy had concluded that a laboratory leak of the coronavirus that marked the beginning of the pandemic. According to the interlocutors of the publication, the Ministry of Energy sent the relevant conclusions to the White House and the US Congress. Later that day, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan reported that at the moment there was no certainty about the origin of the coronavirus and the Department of Energy was involved in a study on this topic.
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Brad Wenstrup, chair of the special subcommittee on the coronavirus pandemic, and James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, reportedly sent a request for documents to the relevant departments.
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“Disclosing the truth about the origins of COVID-19 is vital to U.S. national security, is critical to preventing future pandemics, and will provide some reassurance to the families of those who have lost loved ones during the pandemic,” Congress said in the request.
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The US Department of Energy did not comment on the information in the Wall Street Journal article, saying through its representative that it continues to support the work of experts investigating the origin of COVID-19.
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Earlier, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan, commenting on reports of findings regarding the COVID-19 laboratory leak, said that at the moment there is no certainty about the origin of the coronavirus and the US Department of Energy is involved in a study on this topic.
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On Monday, White House strategic communications coordinator John Kirby said that there is currently no consensus in the US government on the causes of the coronavirus.
