Coronavirus Origin: Pompeo Says There's 'Enormous Evidence' COVID-19 Came From Wuhan Lab

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has joined President Donald Trump in asserting the COVID-19 coronavirus originated at a biological research laboratory in Wuhan, China.

On April 30, Trump said he had a high degree of confidence SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2), the virus that causes COVID-19, originated at the government-run Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV). Trump claims to have seen evidence linking SARS-CoV-2 to the laboratory in Wuhan, but didn't provide any proof to back-up this claim. Trump later threatened to impose new tariffs on China as punishment.

“Yes, I have,” Trump told reporters at the White House when asked if he'd seen evidence that gives him confidence SARS-CoV-2 was produced at the laboratory.

During an interview Sunday on the ABC program “This Week,” Pompeo echoed Trump's view despite having revealed a contrary opinion only two days before. Pompeo now says “there’s enormous evidence” SARS-CoV-2 came from WIV. He does, however, agree with the USIC assessment there is no indication SARS-CoV-2 is man-made or genetically modified.

“We’ve seen the fact that they kicked the journalists out,” Mr. Pompeo said, referring to orders American journalists leave China.

“We saw the fact that those who were trying to report on this, medical professionals inside of China, were silenced. They shut down reporting — all the kind of things that authoritarian regimes do, the way Communist parties operate.”

Pompeo's sudden certainty stands in contrast to previous statements he made affirming he didn't know where SARS-CoV-2 came from.

“We do not know precisely where it began,” he said in a statement on May 1. “We don’t know if it came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. We do not know if it emanated from the wet market or yet some other place. We do not know those answers.”

Pompeo's conclusion SARS-CoV-2 originated at a Wuhan laboratory isn't supported by USIC. In a statement Thursday, USIC said it concurs with the widely-held scientific consensus SARS-CoV-2 "was not man-made or genetically modified."

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), however, said "it will continue to rigorously examine emerging information and intelligence to determine whether the outbreak began through contact with infected animals or if it was the result of an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan."

“As we do in all crises, the Community’s experts respond by surging resources and producing critical intelligence on issues vital to U.S. national security,” said the DNI statement.

The New York Times noted Pompeo is among a small group of senior officials pressuring USIC to find evidence to support the theory the Wuhan laboratory is the origin of the pandemic. It wrote that senior Trump administration officials “have pushed American spy agencies to hunt for evidence to support an unsubstantiated theory” SARS-CoV-2 originated at WIV.

“The effort comes as President Trump escalates a public campaign to blame China for the pandemic,” wrote the Times.