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   From: jill.biden.screws.around@nytimes.com   
      
   In article    
   John Dillinger  wrote:   
   >   
   >  nytimes.com   
   > Lab Leak Most Likely Caused Pandemic, Energy Dept. Says   
   > Julian E. Barnes   
   >   
   > The conclusion, which was made with "low confidence," came as   
   > America's intelligence agencies remained divided over the origins of   
   > the coronavirus.   
   >   
   > Feb. 26, 2023Updated 3:43 p.m. ET   
   >   
   > WASHINGTON - New intelligence has prompted the Energy Department to   
   > conclude that an accidental laboratory leak in China most likely   
   > caused the coronavirus pandemic, though U.S. spy agencies remain   
   > divided over the origins of the virus, American officials said on   
   > Sunday.   
   >   
   > The conclusion was a change from the department's earlier position   
   > that it was undecided on how the virus emerged.   
   >   
   > Some officials briefed on the intelligence said that it was relatively   
   > weak and that the Energy Department's conclusion was made with "low   
   > confidence," suggesting its level of certainty was not high. While the   
   > department shared the information with other agencies, none of them   
   > changed their conclusions, officials said.   
   >   
   > Officials would not disclose what the intelligence was. But many of   
   > the Energy Department's insights come from the network of national   
   > laboratories it oversees, rather than more traditional forms of   
   > intelligence like spy networks or communications intercepts.   
   >   
   > Intelligence officials believe the scrutiny of the pandemic's   
   > beginnings could be important to improving global response to future   
   > health crises, though they caution that finding an answer about the   
   > source of the virus may be difficult or even impossible given Chinese   
   > opposition to further research. Scientists say there is a   
   > responsibility to explain how a pandemic that has killed almost seven   
   > million people started, and learning more about its origins could help   
   > researchers understand what poses the biggest threats of future   
   > outbreaks.   
   >   
   > The new intelligence and the shift in the department's view was first   
   > reported by The Wall Street Journal on Sunday.   
   >   
   > Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, declined to confirm the   
   > intelligence. But he said President Biden had ordered that the   
   > national labs be brought into the effort to determine the origins of   
   > the outbreak so that the government was using "every tool" it had.   
   >   
   > In addition to the Energy Department, the F.B.I. has also concluded,   
   > with moderate confidence, that the virus first emerged accidentally   
   > from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a Chinese lab that worked on   
   > coronaviruses. Four other intelligence agencies and the National   
   > Intelligence Council have concluded, with low confidence, that the   
   > virus most likely emerged through natural transmission, the director   
   > of national intelligence's office announced in October 2021.   
   >   
   > Mr. Sullivan said those divisions remain.   
   >   
   > "There is a variety of views in the intelligence community," he said   
   > on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday. "Some elements of the   
   > intelligence community have reached conclusions on one side, some on   
   > the other. A number of them have said they just don't have enough   
   > information to be sure."   
   >   
   > Mr. Sullivan said if more information was learned, the administration   
   > would report it to Congress and the public. "But right now, there is   
   > not a definitive answer that has emerged from the intelligence   
   > community on this question," he said.   
   >   
   > Some scientists believe that the current evidence, including virus   
   > genes, points to a large food and live animal market in Wuhan as the   
   > most likely place the coronavirus emerged.   
   >   
   > Leaders of the intelligence community are set to brief Congress on   
   > March 8 and 9 as part of annual hearings on global threats. Avril D.   
   > Haines, the director of national intelligence, and other senior   
   > officials would most likely be asked about the continuing inquiry into   
   > the virus's origins.   
   >   
   > How the pandemic began has become a divisive line of intelligence   
   > reporting, and recent congressional reports have not been bipartisan.   
   >   
   > Many Democrats have not been persuaded by the lab leak hypothesis,   
   > with some saying they believe the natural causes explanation and   
      
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