American spy agency leaders met on Wednesday to discuss the biggest "unparalleled" threat facing the United States today and how the Chinese have manipulated WHO to cover up the true COVID-19 origins.
Leaders of the U.S. National Intelligence agency met on Wednesday's Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing, during which they named China an "unparalleled priority" in the discussion of "Worldwide Threats."
The agency had come together for the first time since January 2019, as former President Donald Trump did not send the committee to testify on the supposed annual event last year. During this year's hearing, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines stated that the agency has found "indications" that China is influencing the WHO investigation of COVID-29 origins.
According to the Epoch Times, Republican Brian Fitzpatrick asked Haines whether the United States should have any concerns about the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) ties to the World Health Organization (WHO). Haines responded, "We've certainly seen indications that China is trying to influence the World Health Organization's efforts in this area."
This development is unsurprising after news of China continuously trying to control the WHO investigation of COVID-19 origins. Previously, it was found that China had veto powers over the team that was to investigate the Wuhan virology lab, which was soon absolved by WHO, claiming it was "highly unlikely" that COVID-19 began with a lab leak.
Even WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus felt that the investigation concluding the lab leak was "extremely unlikely," was unsatisfactory. He recommended that there should be "further investigation" into the lab leak theory.
When asked if the U.S. intelligence agencies agree with Ghebreyesus, Haines said that the agencies "do not make the assessment that the WHO report made," but rather are probing both the lab leak theory and the theory that the coronavirus was of natural origin.
Last week, a team of scientists came together in an open letter calling for a full, independent investigation of COVID-19 origins after the report released by WHO contained "incorrect, disputed, contradictory and imprecise statements" that were outlined in the letter.
Led by former National Security Council director Jamie Metzl, the open letter calls out China for their lack of transparency and for failing to enable investigators to access critical records and biological samples that would provide important insights into how COVID-19 truly began.
Aside from discussing how China is influencing the WHO investigation over COVID-19's origins, the U.S spy chief and leaders also discussed how Beijing is "a near-peer competitor challenging the United States in multiple arenas," Haines said as per Reuters. Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray added that the FBI "opens a new investigation linked to China every 10 hours."
The meeting with the U.S. spy chief and intelligence leaders focused on technology and how threats from hacking and the "malign influence of social media '' can impact national security. Panel Republican Vice Chairman Marco Rubio admitted that the technology environment of today allows for the U.S.' adversaries to "wreak havoc." Wray added that social media has become the "key amplifier" to "domestic violent extremism and malign foreign influence."
