Rabia İclal Turan
March 21, 2023•Update: March 21, 2023
WASHINGTON
US President Joe Biden signed a bill Monday that requires the declassification of information related to the origins of COVID-19 after it was unanimously approved by Congress.
“My Administration will continue to review all classified information relating to COVID-19's origins, including potential links to the Wuhan Institute of Virology,” Biden wrote in a statement.
“In implementing this legislation, my Administration will 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,” he added.
The bill requires the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to declassify all intelligence related to the pandemic's origins and came after several current and former officials and US agencies have come out in favor of the theory that the virus originated in a Chinese research lab in the city of Wuhan rather than as a result of natural phenomena.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said on Feb. 28 that the bureau "assessed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan," accusing Beijing of "working to undermine the investigation from the US and other members of the international community."
Just days prior to Wray's announcement, the Department of Energy released a report that determined with “low confidence” that a lab leak was responsible for COVID-19.
The underpinning intelligence, meanwhile, has remained classified, meaning Americans and interested parties worldwide have not been able to access it.
