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Unclassified Summary of the Second Interim Report On the Origins of the COVID-19 Pandemic

By United States. Congress. House. Permanent Select Committee On Intelligence

From the Introduction: "The COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc across the country, with almost every household feeling its effects. The United States' death toll from this virus has surpassed one million people. Although concrete data is hard to lock down, millions of Americans are suffering from the long-term effects directly attributed to this virus. [...] This Committee is uniquely positioned to assist in answering the questions surrounding the origins of COVID 19. This unclassified report attempts to add to the discourse of COVID-19 origins with the understanding that information held by the United States Intelligence Community (IC) that has yet to be shared with this Committee could be useful in making a final determination of the question of whether the origin of this pandemic was natural or lab-related. [...] U.S. officials have pushed China to be more transparent about what it knows. However, as explained below, the U.S. government has itself withheld relevant information, namely, information regarding Chinese research activities and goals. Indeed, because of its access to nonpublic, classified intelligence, the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) has unique capabilities in obtaining relevant information and in determining the origins of COVID-19. Unfortunately, its efforts to date have fallen short, both in its own assessments and in what it has been willing to share with Congress and the public. The classified version of this Committee report was prepared with access to some, but not all, of the IC's classified reporting. The IC has largely refused our requests for additional information. This unclassified summary of the underlying classified report necessarily omits vital information in order to comply with our obligations regarding classified information."

United States. Congress. House. Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. 2022. 22p.