COVID lab leak is a scandal of media and government censorship By Johnathan Turley

[bonnie1962]

COVID lab leak is a scandal of media and government censorship

By 

Jonathan Turley

February 26, 2023 11:53am 

 Updated

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Energy Department has concluded that the COVID pandemic most likely arose from a laboratory leak.

The conclusion is reportedly based on a classified intelligence report recently provided to the White House and key members of Congress. Many will be exploring why the scientific evidence of a lab leak was so slow to emerge from intelligence agencies.

However, for my part, the most alarming aspect was the censorship, not the science.

There will continue to be a debate over the origins of COVID-19, but now there will be a debate.

For years, the media and government allied to treat anyone raising a lab theory as one of three possibilities: conspiracy theorist or racists or racist conspiracy theorists.

 

A team of researchers from the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the EcoHealth Alliance have trapped bats in caves all over China to sample them for coronaviruses.

 

Academics joined this chorus in marginalizing anyone raising the theory. One study cited the theory as an example of “anti-Chinese racism” and “toxic white masculinity.”

As late as May 2021, the New York Times’ Science and Health reporter Apoorva Mandavilli was calling any mention of the lab theory as “racist.” 

She embodies the model of the new “advocacy journalism” at the Times. Reporters who remained wedded to the dated view of objective journalism were purged from the ranks of The Times long ago.

Mandavilli and others made clear that reporters covering the theory were COVID’s little Bull Connors. She tweeted wistfully “someday we will stop talking about the lab leak theory and maybe even admit its racist roots. But alas, that day is not yet here.”

 

The Biden Administration reportedly shutdown the State Department investigation into the possible lab origins of the virus.

 

However, one former New York Times science editor Nicholas Wade chastised his former colleagues for ignoring the obvious evidence supporting a lab theory as well as Chinese efforts to arrest scientists and destroy evidence that could establish the origin.

Others in academia quickly joined the bandwagon to assure the public that there is no scientific basis for their theory, leaving only racist or politics as the motivation behind the theory. In early 2020, with little available evidence, two op-eds in The Lancet in February and Nature Medicine went all-in on the denial front.

The Lancet op-ed stated, “We stand together to strongly condemn conspiracy theories suggesting that Covid-19 does not have a natural origin.”

We were also supposed to forget about massive payments from the Chinese government to American universities and grants of some of these writers to both Chinese interests or even the specific Wuhan lab.

No reference to the lab theory was to be tolerated. When Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) merely mentioned the possibility in 2020, he was set upon by the usual flash media mob. The Washington Post ridiculed him of repeating a “debunked” coronavirus “conspiracy theory.

 

One study cited the lab leak theory as an example of “anti-Chinese racism.

 

In September 2020, Dr. Li-Meng Yan, a virologist and former postdoctoral fellow at the University of Hong Kong, dared to repeat the theory on Fox News, saying, “I can present solid scientific evidence . . . [that] it is a man-made virus created in the lab.” The left-leaning PolitiFact slammed her and gave her a “pants on fire rating.”

President Joe Biden accused Trump of fanning racism in his criticism of the Chinese government over the pandemic and his Administration reportedly shutdown the State Department investigation into the possible lab origins of the virus. 

When Biden later revived an investigation into the origins, he was denounced as “sugar-coating Trump’s racism.”

The categorical rejection of the lab theory is only the latest media narrative proven to be false. The Russian collusion scandal, the Hunter Biden “Russian Disinformation,” the Lafayette Park “Photo Op” conspiracy, the Nick Sandmann controversy, the Jussie Smollett case, the Migrant Whipping scandal.

On the lab theory, media like the Washington Post piled on senators like Cruz and Cotton for mentioning the lab theory only later to admit that it could be legitimate.

All of those experts and writers who were called racists or suspended by social media were simply forgotten in media coverage.

 

That is why this is really about censorship.

The media guaranteed that we did not have a full debate over the origins of the virus and attacked those who had the temerity to state the obvious that there was a plausible basis for suspecting the Wuhan lab.

None of this has diminished demands for more censorship. Even after Twitter admitted that it wrongly blocked The New York Post story before the 2020 election, Democratic senators responded by warning the company not to cut back on censorship and even demanded more censorship.

Recently, the Twitter Files revealed an extensive and secret FBI effort to censor citizens on social media.

This included undisclosed efforts by members like Rep. Adam Schiff (D., Cal.) to get Twitter to ban a columnist and target critics. In a House hearing, democratic leaders like Rep. Jamie Raskin (D., Md). called for more censorship and opposed investigations into the censorship efforts.

 

These same figures in politics and media are just moving on to the next approved narrative.

President Biden previously called for more censorship and accused Big Tech of “killing people” by not censoring more views deemed “COVID misinformation.”

The opposite is true. By suppressing alternative scientific and policy views, the public was denied a full debate over mask efficacy, vaccine side effects, COVID origins and other important issues. Many of those questions are only being recognized as legitimate and worthy of debate.

Censorship does not, as President Biden claims, save lives.

It is more likely to cost lives by protecting approved views from challenge. It does not foster the truth any more than it fosters free speech. Whatever the origin of COVID-19 may be in China, the origins of our censorship scandal is closer to home.

Jonathan Turley is an attorney and a professor at George Washington University Law School.

 

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Declassified Assessment on COVID-19 Origins

Date: October 29, 2021

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) today released a declassified Intelligence Community assessment on COVID-19 origins.

https://www.dni.gov/index.php/newsroom/reports-publications/reports-publications-2021/item/2263-declassified-assessment-on-covid-19-origins

The Earliest Known Cases of COVID-19 Have Finally Been Pinpointed

Wild animals sold on the southwestern side of the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan were the most likely source of the COVID-19 outbreak, a team of 18 international scientists claim.

https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-have-finally-pinpointed-the-location-of-the-earliest-cases-of-covid-19

Wuhan market was epicentre of pandemic’s start, studies suggest

Report authors say that the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 jumped to people from animals sold at the market on two occasions in late 2019 — but some scientists want more definitive evidence.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00584-8

Covid origin: Why the Wuhan lab-leak theory is being taken seriously

But in recent weeks the controversial claim that the pandemic might have leaked from a Chinese laboratory - once dismissed by many as a fringe conspiracy theory - has been gaining traction.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-57268111

WHO abandons plans for crucial second phase of COVID-origins investigation

Sensitive studies in China were intended to pinpoint the source of the pandemic virus.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00283-y

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COVID-19 Origin Debate

I’ve been asked by many to comment on the SARS-CoV-2 origin debate and new Wall Street Journal article. And, honestly, I don’t want to touch this topic with a 10-foot pole. But, I will leave you with a few thoughts:

https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/p/covid-19-origin-debate?

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COVID-19 conspiracies soar after latest report on origins

WASHINGTON (AP) — COVID-19′s origins remain hazy. Three years after the start of the pandemic, it’s still unclear whether the coronavirus that causes the disease leaked from a lab or spread to humans from an animal.

https://apnews.com/article/covid-misinformation-china-lab-leak-coronavirus-4a76f8196d7c504f288429d1018d2990?

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China dismisses FBI statement on COVID-19 lab leak theory

BEIJING (AP) — For the second day in a row, China on Wednesday dismissed U.S. suggestions that the COVID-19 pandemic may have been triggered by a virus that leaked from a Chinese laboratory.

https://apnews.com/article/china-coronavirus-lab-leak-fbi-982ac59822e84499daa47cf87e4fb306?

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Coronavirus origins still a mystery 3 years into pandemic

WASHINGTON (AP) — A crucial question has eluded governments and health agencies around the world since the COVID-19 pandemic began: Did the virus originate in animals or leak from a Chinese lab?

https://apnews.com/article/science-politics-us-department-of-energy-john-kirby-covid-4405605d5671af65df87cf1af314148a?

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The Surprisingly Contrarian Case Against Lying About Science

The hypothesis that COVID-19 originated from a Chinese laboratory, rather than a naturally occurring jump from animals to human beings, received a major boost over the weekend. The Wall Street Journal reports that the U.S. Department of Energy, as a result of new intelligence, now considers a lab leak the more likely origin source. DOE’s conclusion carries unusual weight because, as Jim Geraghty notes, it has “a special division that, as part of its mission to track and mitigate the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, specializes in the study of biological weapons such as viruses.” The Washington Post confirms this division produced the new finding.

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/02/lab-leak-hypothesis-lying-about-science-is-bad-for-liberals.html

There is no lab leak theory

If we’re going to do this again, I’m gonna tell this story again.

A decade ago, I traced a deadly epidemic back to a politically explosive source. It was the fall of 2010, and Haiti was reeling from a massive cholera epidemic. Rumors flew that the outbreak was caused by United Nations peacekeepers. Some variations on these rumors were extremely far-fetched.

https://theracket.news/p/there-is-no-lab-leak-theory?

 

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DOE and FBI Say Lab Origin of COVID Is 'Most Likely' — But Won't Say Why

Scientific evidence points to a natural origin. The FBI and DOE, we now know, disagree with that view.

https://www.snopes.com/news/2023/03/03/fbi-doe-covid-origin/?

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House votes to declassify info about origins of COVID-19

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House voted unanimously on Friday to declassify U.S. intelligence information about the origins of COVID-19, a sweeping show of bipartisan support near the third anniversary of the start of the deadly pandemic.

https://apnews.com/article/covid-origins-china-wuhan-intelligence-7018f8016c7346cfaa8193933ec10063

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House GOP's COVID Hearing Features Advocate Of Racist Theories About Genetics

A House hearing on COVID-19’s origins on Wednesday unraveled almost immediately as Democrats decried one of the GOP’s witnesses: Nicholas Wade, the author of a 2014 book that made outrageous, racist claims about Black people being more prone to violence and Jewish people being more financially successful because of their genetic makeup.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/house-gop-covid-scientific-racism-nicholas-wade_n_6408dcd6e4b018d7c56ec8fc?

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New COVID origins data suggests pandemic linked to animals

International scientists who examined previously unavailable genetic data from samples collected at a market close to where the first human cases of COVID-19 were detected in China said they found suggestions the pandemic originated from animals, not a lab.

https://apnews.com/article/covid-virus-origins-coronavirus-lab-leak-wildlife-wuhan-raccoon-dog-4dafbb46a575e14eff9fedf2e705aee2

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New COVID origins data point to raccoon dogs in China market

BEIJING (AP) — Genetic material collected at a Chinese market near where the first human cases of COVID-19 were identified show raccoon dog DNA comingled with the virus, adding evidence to the theory that the virus originated from animals, not from a lab, international experts say.

https://apnews.com/article/covid-virus-origins-coronavirus-lab-leak-wildlife-wuhan-raccoon-dog-4dafbb46a575e14eff9fedf2e705aee2?

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Biden signs bill declassifying information on the origin of COVID-19

WASHINGTON — The U.S. director of national intelligence has three months to declassify information on potential links between China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology and the origin of COVID-19, after President Joe Biden signed legislation Monday.

https://floridaphoenix.com/blog/biden-signs-bill-declassifying-information-on-the-origin-of-covid-19/?

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China Health Officials Lash Out at WHO, Defend Virus Search

Chinese health officials defended their search for the source of the COVID-19 virus and lashed out Saturday at the World Health Organization after its leader said Beijing should have shared genetic information earlier.

https://www.voanews.com/a/china-health-officials-lash-out-at-who-defend-virus-search-/7042196.html?

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The Rise and Fall of the Raccoon Dog Theory of Covid-19

A new paper by a prominent American virologist has called into question a string of high-profile news reports about the role that raccoon dogs may have played in the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic.

https://theintercept.com/2023/05/10/covid-pandemic-origin-raccoon-dog/?

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Documents Link Potential Covid Patient Zero to U.S.-Funded Research in Wuhan

New reporting, attributed to U.S. government sources, identified a coronavirus researcher at the Wuhan Institute of Virology who fell ill in November 2019.

https://theintercept.com/2023/06/17/covid-origin-wuhan-patient-zero/?

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Intelligence Report Says Safety Training at Chinese Government Lab Complex in Wuhan Before the Pandemic Appears Routine

The view of the intelligence community contrasts with a 2022 report by the Republican oversight staff of a Senate committee that saw the training as a response to a biosafety problem.

https://www.propublica.org/article/safety-training-wuhan-china-lab-covid-appears-routine?

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House Republicans Accidentally Released a Trove of Damning Covid Documents

New documents show a scientist calling a lab leak “highly likely” — after drafting a paper claiming the opposite.

https://theintercept.com/2023/07/12/covid-documents-house-republicans/?

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How the search for the origins of COVID-19 turned politically poisonous The hunt for the origins of COVID-19 has gone dark in China. The Chinese government froze meaningful efforts to trace the virus from the first weeks of the outbreak, according to an Associated Press investigation. AP drew on thousands of pages of undisclosed emails and documents, leaked recordings and dozens of interviews that showed the freeze began far earlier than previously known.  Read more.

Why this matters: Secrecy clouds the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak. Even the date when Chinese authorities first started searching for the virus’ origins is unclear.   Early on, Chinese scientists were silenced and politicians took control. Crucial initial efforts were hindered by bureaucrats in Wuhan trying to avoid blame; the central government, which silenced Chinese scientists and subjected visiting U.N. officials to stage-managed tours; and the World Health Organization itself, which may have compromised early opportunities to gather critical information, according to internal materials obtained by AP.   By the time WHO led a third visit to Wuhan in January 2021, the origins hunt had become highly politicized. Despite a lack of direct access, the WHO team concluded that a lab leak was “extremely unlikely.” So it came as an infuriating surprise to Chinese officials when, months later, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu said that it was “premature” to rule out the lab leak theory, saying such lab accidents were “common,” and pressed China to be more transparent.

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