The White House has redirected COVID.gov to a new landing page titled “Lab Leak: True Origins of COVID-19,” which presents a five-point case for the theory that COVID-19 originated from a mistaken lab leak in Wuhan, China.
The new website appears to be based on theories from the final report of the Republican-led Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, which was released in December 2024. There has never been a consensus or a “smoking gun” to explain what caused the pandemic.
As of last week, the COVID.gov page included resources for COVID-19 testing, treatment, and vaccination, as well as Long COVID information.
The White House’s five pieces of evidence for the theory include claims that the virus has unique biological characteristics, that all cases stem from a single introduction into humans, that Wuhan is home to China’s leading SARS research lab, that researchers at the lab experienced COVID-like symptoms in the fall of 2019, and that “if there was evidence of a natural origin.”
The page includes claims that government officials, including former NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, assisted in editing and then amplifying a 2020 research paper on the origins of COVID-19 that supported natural origin theory.
According to the current page, the paper’s explicit intention was to discredit the lab leak theory and eliminate any doubt that the origins were natural. This is not a new accusation, and Fauci and the paper’s authors have previously denied that the paper was manipulated or had a specific goal.
The pandemic’s origins have been hotly debated since it began.
The prevailing theories always seemed to center on two scenarios: natural exposure to an infected animal or an unintentional lab leak.
With no “smoking gun” and limited access to raw data, scientific debate has been dominated by circumstantial evidence.
In October 2021, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a declassified report on the intelligence community’s perspectives on the origin conundrum, which also leaned toward natural spillover but represented a split opinion.
A subsequent declassified report released in 2023 also stated that the majority of the intelligence community was divided on the origins of the pandemic.
According to reports, US agencies generally agreed that the virus was not developed as a biological weapon, and that China’s leaders were unaware of the virus prior to the global pandemic.
The new splash page features a photo of Fauci and the pardon he received from former President Joe Biden, emphasizing that it was for “any offenses.” The page also accuses federal agencies, including the NIH and HHS, of breaking the law and violating rules governing transparency and cooperation with congressional investigations.
The agencies complied with the committee’s FOIA and other regulatory requests, and they appeared before lawmakers when asked to testify.
The web page also questions the effectiveness of social distancing, masking, and lockdown. The White House also criticized the response of New York officials.
In 2024, Fauci testified before lawmakers about the accusations, claiming that allegations that he covered up or influenced research on the lab leak theory are false.
“The accusation that I influenced scientists’ decisions by bribing them with millions of dollars in grant money is completely false and ridiculous. “I had no input into the content of the published paper,” Fauci stated in June 2024.
“The second issue is a false accusation that I attempted to conceal the possibility that the virus came from a laboratory. “In fact, the truth is the exact opposite,” Fauci stated at the 2024 hearing.
This is not the first time the White House has stated its position regarding the origins of COVID-19. In January, President Donald Trump stated that COVID-19 had “strained” his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“But I really like President Xi.” I have always liked him. We have always had a great relationship. The COVID outbreak in Wuhan put a strain on things. Clearly, that strained it. I’m sure it strained many people’s relationships, but it certainly strained ours,” Trump said at the World Economic Forum.
