During the COVID-19 pandemic, former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reportedly shared intelligence with the United Kingdom suggesting a potential lab leak origin of the coronavirus. The information was shared in January 2021 during a meeting of the intelligence alliance known as 'Five Eyes,' which includes the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Pompeo shared classified American reports with then-U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, indicating a 'high likelihood' of the virus originating from a Chinese lab. However, it is reported that the U.K. government may have disregarded the lab leak theory under pressure from government scientists who favored the theory of zoonotic transmission.
The reports contained information collected in the early days of the pandemic and highlighted alleged Chinese officials' lack of cooperation, corruption, and ineptitude. It was also revealed that the Chinese military had longstanding ties with the Wuhan Institute of Virology, where researchers reportedly fell ill before the first COVID-19 cases were reported.
In May 2021, the U.S. House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic called for a criminal investigation into the virus's origins. This call followed an interim staff report accusing EcoHealth Alliance President Dr. Peter Daszak of funding risky gain-of-function research in Wuhan without adequate oversight. The report claimed that taxpayer funds were used to support such research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
However, EcoHealth Alliance disputes these allegations, setting the stage for further scrutiny into the origins of the COVID-19 virus and the circumstances surrounding its initial spread.
