As the Covid-19 pandemic raged in 2021, the U.S. intelligence community was tasked with uncovering the virus’s origins. But while the FBI pushed to highlight the possibility of a lab leak from Wuhan, China, internal roadblocks and political maneuvering appear to have buried critical evidence, the Wall Street Journal reports in a stunning expose. Jason Bannan, a microbiologist and senior FBI scientist, was prepared to brief the White House in August 2021 on the bureau’s belief that Covid-19 likely originated from a Chinese lab. Yet, despite being the sole agency to hold this view with “moderate confidence,” Bannan was never called to present his findings to President Biden. Instead, intelligence officials aligned with the zoonotic transmission theory—suggesting the virus jumped from animals to humans—dominated the briefing. “It’s surprising the White House didn’t ask,” Bannan said in his first public interview on the matter. Internal disputes stretched beyond the FBI. A team of scientists at the Pentagon’s National Center for Medical Intelligence conducted a study concluding that Covid-19 was likely manipulated in a lab. Their findings contradicted the Defense Intelligence Agency’s official stance, resulting in the exclusion of their analysis from the final intelligence report. By July 2021, the FBI’s collaboration with the Pentagon scientists was abruptly halted. A superior at the medical intelligence center reportedly ordered the scientists to stop sharing their research with the bureau, describing them as “off the reservation.” The Wall Street Journal’s investigation revealed deep divisions within the intelligence community, with critical evidence left on the “cutting-room floor.” The FBI’s insistence on the lab leak theory contrasted with other agencies’ reluctance to challenge China’s narrative. Even as the Department of Energy later joined the FBI in supporting the lab leak theory, efforts to pursue the theory dwindled. Despite over 1.2 million American deaths and mounting global pressure for accountability, the U.S. government’s official stance remains inconclusive. Congressional efforts to establish a commission similar to the 9/11 inquiry have faltered amid partisan disputes. With the intelligence community’s attention shifting to other threats, former officials like Bannan argue that it’s time for a fresh investigation. “We need to re-examine what was left out,” Bannan urged, hinting at a troubling pattern of suppression and missed opportunities to uncover the truth. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)