Biden Signs Legislation To Declassify Certain Intelligence On Covid Pandemic Origins

By -

 

President Joe Biden has signed new law requiring the release of intelligence materials on potential links between the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan.


The move requires all U.S. intelligence related to that link and the origins of COVID-19 to be declassified within 90 days of the law's enactment.

'We need to get to the bottom of Covid-19's origins,' Biden wrote in a statement. He noted any released material should also 'include potential links to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.'

 

'In implementing this legislation, my administration will declassify and share as much of that information as possible,' he added.

 

The bill passed unanimously in the House and the Senate before being passed along to the White House. Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley originally sponsored the bill.

 

Biden's signature now instructs Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines to declassify any information the U.S. intelligence community has collected related to the origins of the COVID-19 virus in the next three months.

 

The debate in Washington, D.C. over China intentionally leaking the virus from a lab in Wuhan was recently refueled. The Wall Street Journal reported last month the Energy Department assessed – albeit with low confidence – that the pandemic likely arose from the alleged Chinese laboratory leak.

 

Beijing denies this assessment.

 

The president claims that he believes in Congress' goal of making available as much information as possible about where and how the coronavirus pandemic originated.

 

But he claimed that national security risks would still need to be assessed when it came to what his administration decides to release to the public.

 

'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,' Biden said in a statement on the declassification.

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Characters In BBC’s Documentary On TB Joshua Unknown To Us – Synagogue Church

By -
Image
  The Synagogue Church of all Nations (SCOAN) has countered the BBC documentary on the late Temitope Babatunde Joshua, known as TB Joshua, founder of SCOAN. SCOAN described the documentary against TB Joshua as unfounded, and that the characters interviewed in the report were unknown to the church. The church, in a statement signed by its Public Affairs Director, Mr Dare Adejumo, said the statement was aimed at disabusing public minds from the report. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the BBC released a highly controversial and damning documentary on the late TB Joshua on Monday, accusing him of various crimes, including rape, against some members. SCOAN said, “BBC World Services investigative unit, code-named Africa Eye, came out this week with weird and strange episodes of atrocities against the late founder of SCOAN.” It said that to investigate and publish or broadcast reports was a central kernel of journalism, but to do so outside the ethics and fundamental principles
Read more

NBA Suspends Canada’s Joshua Primo For 4 Games For Exposing Himself To Women

By -
Image
  The NBA has suspended former San Antonio Spurs guard  Joshua Primo   for four games   ... after it says it found he exposed his private parts to multiple women. The league announced the ban on Friday morning ... saying an investigation into the free agent revealed he had "engaged in inappropriate and offensive behavior." NBA officials called his actions "conduct detrimental to the league." They did, however, note that they "did not find evidence that he engaged in any sexual or other misconduct apart from these brief exposures." "Primo maintains that his conduct was not intentional," the league said. Dr. Hillary Cauthen , Primo's former therapist, was the first to  bring the allegations  against Primo to light after she claimed last fall that he exposed himself to her on nine separate occasions. Dr. Cauthen's attorney,  Tony Buzbee , alleged the Spurs were aware of Primo's actions, but didn't take action. Cauthen went on to file
Read more

Sky Sports' On-Air Mix-Up: Chelsea Players Mistakenly Introduced as Axel Disasi Instead of Noni Madueke in Carabao Cup Semifinal

By -
Image
 Sky Sports were left red-faced after an on-screen graphic mistakenly introduced Chelsea defender Axel Disasi as Noni Madueke on Tuesday night. The pair were both the scoresheet as the Blues thrashed Middlesbrough 6-1 at Stamford Bridge in the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final to boo their place at Wembley. But when Disasi spoke to Sky Sports after the game, an on-screen graphic introduced him as Madueke instead. Madueke is four years younger than his Chelsea teammate, plays in a different role and is English, while Disasi is French. Viewers immediately spotted the mistake and took to social media to flag up the glaring error.  Sky Sports with a huge mistake as that is Axel Disasi, not Noni Madueke,' another added, while a third described the gaffe as a 'howler'. A fourth commented: 'Sky sports calling Disasi Madueke. They’ve done it again.' Disasi scored Chelsea's third goal in the 6-1 rout, converting Raheem Sterling's cross at the far post after th
Read more