Trump Officials Are Said to Press Spies to Link Virus and Wuhan Labs Some analysts are worried that the pressure from senior officials could distort assessments about the coronavirus and be used as a weapon in an escalating battle with China. Volunteers disinfecting the Qintai Grand Theater in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the coronavirus outbreak began. Volunteers disinfecting the Qintai Grand Theater in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the coronavirus outbreak began.Credit...Aly Song/Reuters By Mark Mazzetti, Julian E. Barnes, Edward Wong and Adam Goldman April 30, 2020 Updated 9:02 a.m. ET 461 WASHINGTON — Senior Trump administration officials have pushed American spy agencies to hunt for evidence to support an unsubstantiated theory that a government laboratory in Wuhan, China, was the origin of the coronavirus outbreak, according to current and former American officials. The effort comes as President Trump escalates a public campaign to blame China for the pandemic. Some intelligence analysts are concerned that the pressure from administration officials will distort assessments about the virus and that they could be used as a political weapon in an intensifying battle with China over a disease that has infected more than three million people across the globe. Most intelligence agencies remain skeptical that conclusive evidence of a link to a lab can be found, and scientists who have studied the genetics of the coronavirus say that the overwhelming probability is that it leapt from animal to human in a nonlaboratory setting, as was the case with H.I.V., Ebola and SARS. Mr. Trump’s aides and Republicans in Congress have sought to blame China for the pandemic in part to deflect criticism of the administration’s mismanagement of the crisis in the United States, which now has more coronavirus cases than any country. More than one million Americans have been infected, and more than 60,000 have died. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a former C.I.A. director and the administration’s most vocal hard-liner on China, has taken the lead in pushing American intelligence agencies for more information, according to current and former officials. Matthew Pottinger, the deputy national security adviser who reported on SARS outbreaks as a journalist in China, has pressed intelligence agencies off and on since January to gather information that might support any origin theory linked to a lab. Help us report in critical moments. Subscribe today to support The Times And Anthony Ruggiero, the head of the National Security Council’s bureau tracking weapons of mass destruction, expressed frustration during one videoconference in January that the C.I.A. was unable to get behind any theory of the outbreak’s origin. C.I.A. analysts responded that they simply did not have the evidence to support any one theory with high confidence at the time, according to people familiar with the conversation. The C.I.A.’s judgment was based in part on the fact that no signs had emerged that the Chinese government believed the outbreak came from a lab. The Chinese government has vigorously denied that the virus leaked from a lab while pushing disinformation on its origins, including suggesting that the American military created it. Any American intelligence report blaming a Chinese institution and officials for the outbreak could significantly harm relations with China for years to come. And Trump administration officials could use it to try to prod other nations to publicly hold China accountable for coronavirus deaths even when the pandemic’s exact origins cannot be determined. The State Department declined to answer questions about Mr. Pompeo’s role. Spokesmen for the White House and the National Security Council declined to comment. An official from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence acknowledged that the intelligence agencies had not agreed on an origin theory but were tracking down information and frequently updating policymakers. Latest Updates: Coronavirus Outbreak in the U.S. 3.8 million more workers filed for unemployment benefits last week. That’s probably an undercount. Stocks dip as jobless claims rack up. Federal social-distancing guidelines are set to expire today as some states continue to reopen. See more updates Updated 9m ago More live coverage: Global Markets New York NBC News reported earlier that administration officials had directed intelligence agencies to try to determine whether China and the World Health Organization hid information early on about the outbreak. ImageChinese soldiers this month in Wuhan after the city’s travel ban was partly lifted. Chinese soldiers this month in Wuhan after the city’s travel ban was partly lifted.Credit...Roman Pilipey/EPA, via Shutterstock For months, scientists, spies and government officials have wrestled with varying theories about how the outbreak began, and many agree on the importance of determining the genesis of the pandemic. In government and academia, experts have ruled out the notion that it was concocted as a bioweapon. And they agree that the new pathogen began as a bat virus that evolved naturally, probably in another mammal, to become adept at infecting and killing humans. A few veteran national security experts have pointed to a history of lab accidents infecting researchers to suggest it might have happened in this case, but many scientists have dismissed such theories. “We do not believe any type of laboratory-based scenario is plausible,” five scientists wrote in a paper published in March in Nature Medicine. Mr. Trump has spoken publicly about the administration’s “very serious investigations” of the virus’s origin and China’s culpability. Those inquiries took on new urgency in late March, when intelligence officials presented information to the White House that prompted some career officials to reconsider the lab theory. The precise nature of the information, based in part on intercepted communications among Chinese officials, is unclear. The current and former officials did not say whether Mr. Trump himself, who has shown little regard for the independent judgments of intelligence and law enforcement officials, has pressured the intelligence agencies. But he does want any information supporting the lab theory to set the stage for holding China responsible, according to two people familiar with his thinking. He has expressed interest in an idea pushed by Michael Pillsbury, an informal China adviser to the White House, that Beijing could be sued for damages, with the United States seeking $10 million for every death. At a news conference this week, Mr. Trump said the administration was discussing a “very substantial” reparations claim against China — an idea that Beijing has already denounced. “President Trump is demanding to know the origins of the virus and what Xi Jinping knew when about the cover-up,” Mr. Pillsbury said. Sign up to receive an email when we publish a new story about the coronavirus outbreak. Sign Up Looking at the Labs ImageSeveral labs in Wuhan, including the Wuhan Institute of Virology, research bat viruses and are part of a coordinated global effort to monitor viruses. Several labs in Wuhan, including the Wuhan Institute of Virology, research bat viruses and are part of a coordinated global effort to monitor viruses.Credit...Hector Retamal/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Major gaps remain in what is known about the new pathogen, including which kind of animal infected humans with the coronavirus and where the first transmission took place. Richard Grenell, the acting director of national intelligence, has told his agencies to make a priority of determining the virus’s origin. His office convened a review of intelligence officials on April 7 to see whether the agencies could reach a consensus. The officials determined that at least so far, they could not. Intelligence officials have repeatedly pointed out to the White House that determining the origins of the outbreak is fundamentally a scientific question that cannot be solved easily by spycraft. A former intelligence official described senior aides’ repeated emphasis of the lab theory as “conclusion shopping,” a disparaging term among analysts that has echoes of the Bush administration’s 2002 push for assessments saying that Iraq had weapons of mass of destruction and links to Al Qaeda, perhaps the most notorious example of the politicization of intelligence. The C.I.A. has yet to unearth any data beyond circumstantial evidence to bolster the lab theory, according to current and former government officials, and the agency has told policymakers it lacks enough information to either affirm or refute it. Only getting access to the lab itself and the virus samples it contains could provide definitive proof, if it exists, the officials said. The Defense Intelligence Agency recently changed its analytic position to formally leave open the possibility of a theory of lab origin, officials said. Senior agency officials have asked analysts to take a closer look at the labs. The reason for the change is unclear, but some officials attributed it to the intelligence analyzed in recent weeks. Others took a more jaundiced view: that the agency is trying to curry favor with White House officials. A spokesman for the agency, James M. Kudla, disputed that characterization. “It’s not D.I.A.’s role to make policy decisions or value judgments — and we do not,” he said. Some American officials have become convinced that Beijing is not sharing all it knows. Among Mr. Trump’s top aides, Mr. Pompeo in particular has tried to hammer China over the lab. On Wednesday, he said that the United States still had not “gained access” to the main campus of the Wuhan Institute of Virology, one of two sites that American officials who favor the lab accident theory have focused on, along with the Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention. ImageSecretary of State Mike Pompeo is said to have taken the lead in pushing American intelligence agencies for more information on the origin of the virus. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is said to have taken the lead in pushing American intelligence agencies for more information on the origin of the virus.Credit...Pool photo by Andrew Harnik Labs in Wuhan research bat viruses and are known to American officials; they are part of a coordinated global effort to monitor viruses. The virology institute has received funding and training from American agencies and scientists. Mr. Pompeo seemed to refer to internal information about the outbreak during an interview on April 17 with Hugh Hewitt, a conservative radio host. “We know that the Chinese Communist Party, when it began to evaluate what to do inside of Wuhan, considered whether the W.I.V. was, in fact, the place where this came from,” said Mr. Pompeo, referring to the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The State Department declined to indicate what was behind his assertion. Scientists Weigh In Scientists who study the coronavirus have maintained that the initial spillover from animal to person could have occurred in any number of ways: at a farm where wild animals are raised, through accidental contact with a bat or another animal that carried the virus, or in hunting or transporting animals. The scientists have also scrutinized the new pathogen’s genes, finding that they show great similarity to bat coronaviruses and bear no hints of human tampering or curation. The odds were astronomical against a lab release as opposed to an event in nature, said Kristian G. Andersen, the lead author of the paper published in Nature Medicine and a specialist in infectious disease at the Scripps Research Translational Institute in California. He acknowledged that it was theoretically possible that a researcher had found the new virus, fully evolved, in a bat or other animal and taken it into the lab. But, he said, based on the evidence his team gathered and the numerous opportunities for infection in the interactions that many farmers, hunters and others have with wild animals, “there just isn’t a reason to consider the lab as a potential explanation.” No evidence supports the theory that the coronavirus originated “in a laboratory either intentionally or by accident,” Daniel R. Lucey, an expert on pandemics at Georgetown University who has closely tracked what is known about the origins, wrote this week. He has called on China to share information about animals sold at a market in Wuhan that was linked to some of the earliest known cases of people infected with the virus, though not the first one. Dr. Lucey has raised questions about whether the market was, in fact, where the virus spilled over from animals to people. The limited information released about environmental samples taken from the market that were positive for the coronavirus do not resolve whether the source was animals sold there or people working or visiting the market, or both, he wrote. ImageA market in Wuhan has been linked to some of the earliest known cases of the coronavirus. A market in Wuhan has been linked to some of the earliest known cases of the coronavirus.Credit...Hector Retamal/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images But Richard Ebright, a microbiologist and biosafety expert at Rutgers University, has argued that the probability of a lab accident was “substantial,” pointing to a history of such occurrences that have infected researchers. The Wuhan labs and other centers worldwide that examine naturally occurring viruses have questionable safety rules, he said, adding, “The standards are lax and need to be tightened.” American officials said they closely watched China’s government this winter for signs of a lab accident but found nothing conclusive. In February, President Xi Jinping stressed the need for a plan to ensure the “biosafety and biosecurity of the country.” And the Ministry of Science and Technology announced new guidelines for laboratories, especially ones handling viruses. Global Times, a popular state-run newspaper, then published an article on “chronic inadequate management issues” at laboratories, including problems with biological disposal. And American scientists who had developed relationships with researchers in the Wuhan labs had been in touch with them during the initial outbreak. But by mid-January, American officials said, the Chinese scientists cut off official communications.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/30/us/politics/trump-administration-intelligence-coronavirus-china.html
总统亲信施压，要动用间谍手段link 病毒到武汉病毒所。居然还有这么多唱赞歌的！
这还是我认识的美国吗？
🔥 最新回帖
Agree!!!
你们怎么就搞不明白？证据有两种，一种是真正的，还有一种是“大规模杀伤性武器”类型，鲍威尔为此压上了自己的信誉，一世清白付之东流，美国信誉也遭到前所未有的质疑。Trump这么施压，能搞出来哪一种，猪也能理解吧
总统亲信施压，要动用间谍手段link 病毒到武汉病毒所。这就是你认同的这个国家的运作方式和价值观？
🛋️ 沙发板凳
兄弟，那如果Isis占了你的老家，你是不是也要担心Isis被宣布成恐怖分子呢？
有什么好担心的？你赶紧举家回中国，家里父母照顾到，也不用在美国担心受歧视了，万全之策啊。
re 光喊不走的都是王八蛋
没填过485？铲党本来就和犯罪、纳粹、恐怖主义属于一类
我也记得有这一条，不少人为了绿卡 ，从来隐瞒自己是党员的真实情况
还有，这可不是Trump 一个人的主意，你不是你不用怕。世界和平只有一个解决办法。
这次疫情给全球造成了伤害的大量人的死亡，
现在已经有多少国家的机构提出要土工赔偿了？
这可不是911事件可以比拟的，
这次担心啥都晚了，
来生还是不要做中国人了，
香港人台湾人新加坡人，
任何的非大陆华人都比大陆人有大局观有血性的多，
中国人的墙头草价值观，
到了哪里都无法接受当地的价值观，
到了哪里都是想着怎么挣钱然后怎么跑路，
生活在美国，
无法理解认同这个国家的运作方式和价值观，
然后把，又赖着不走！！？？
天天在华人班上发这些胡扯蛋的帖子，
我就是看不上瞧不起你们这些中国人，
而且以与你们同是大陆出来的中国人为耻。
中国人民已经和我党共生共存了
主要是伊朗和伊拉克外宣没法渗透到美国内部吓唬在美国的伊朗伊拉克人
华人为什么得哭？独轮运为什么乐开花？
你是共产党员？那你哭吧，说不定tg恼羞成怒会把党员名单入党申请书都给你放网上
感觉这次中共真的慌了，不过外宣倒是很一致，在微信油管上面的宣传和这个版上一致，都是利用绑架华人和中共是命运共同体的方式，换言之中共到了美华也会遭殃。我觉得恐怖分子也可以在中东这么宣传，如果打倒isis, 在美的穆斯林就遭殃了。哈哈
2014年美国shutdown了这方面的研究，但是Fauci主导的去fund在武汉的研究，大家也都说过，中美一边出钱 一边搞事。搞事的一方 共产党宣传几个月了，承认是实验室出事没法给国内交代，所以肯定死不认；出钱的一方 无论是Fauci Gates 或相关机构属于传统建制派，换言之，美国的建制派和中共在这件事上有利益关系。trump推动的所谓的调查能否克服国内建制派和中共的力量难说，但为了选举他也别无选择。
中国是小白兔吗？你担心个屁。
特么该害怕的就咱老中。最难过的时期还没来。
trump的意图已经非常明显，中国也不可能是傻瓜，反应也会随着而来，对抗只会更激烈。可以预见随着大选越来越激烈，疫情经济都没有起色，Trump也只有甩锅中国一条路，为了稳固基本盘，重提Chinese virus也就是分分钟的事。
不害怕的是一帮不在美国的弯弯。
欧美的清真寺也被白人扫荡过多次了，自己去看看新闻去，新西兰，加拿大，美国都发生过
刚开始可不是这样的，中国稍微好一点，国外刚流行的时候，千里投毒，恨不得海外华人都死在国外，我们都还没忘记呢，现在又来命运共同体了？我们不是🐟，记忆没有那么短
提醒你一句，
这个班上也是有台湾人的哦！
下次讨论问题不得不依靠台湾人，叫他们弯弯/呆湾来得到满足感之前，
我建议你这一类大陆华人先自己照照镜子，
你这类人让我感到深度厌恶。
根据在这个版上的观察，基本上在美华人都是（被）独轮运啦。安啦，不怕的。不知道能不能给我们发个证啊，谢谢啦。
扫荡过几次？
分母上有多少清真寺和穆斯林人口？
会有google么？ 自己做做功课？
对了，
你不是一直要回家接手你家的无牌口罩医疗企业么？
怎么天天在华人版面上污染环境扔垃圾？
老大不小的，
我建议你还是多出去接触接触社会吧？
有利于你的心理健康
看把你急的，谁心理有问题，谁唯恐天下不乱的谁清楚
我感觉这里清真寺和教堂一样的地位，甚至还要高
真的，学校里穆斯林不知道多么趾高气扬的
这是ccp洗脑思维、以为只能信恐怖组织、爹亲娘亲不如党亲、管天管地中间管空气的ccp
我是建议你多学习学习，
你作为著名ID之一，
写出的东西基本上幼儿园水平，
你明白我说的了么？
这个ID就是典型的身在墙外，
头再墙里，
天天看到些外宣媒体的东西就开始在板上胡扯，
哀其不幸吧
算了吧， 华人歧视穆斯林的就一大堆，我在的城市里有带头巾的穆斯林女被攻击的新闻。另外美国政坛里面的穆斯林背景议员也是整天被保守党各种花式攻击。911之后那段日子穆斯林多少被歧视的例子
必须手动赞！
厌恶是相互的。
本来中华文明在台湾传承最好，我心向往之。但是这次你们所作所为让我深深厌恶。
对你这样的人，我也很厌恶。Trump施压要构陷这么明显的事情，你们也不谴责，足以说明你完全不是一个公正的人。
另外，tg如果是邪恶的，那么你们这么做只是增加风险。如果tg不是邪恶的，那么你们这么做是不公正的也是无理的。
这就是一个弯弯。
土工如果是邪恶的？
你再多来一些排比和if then 吧？
我对你快要路人转粉了
搞笑加无语，以前被打成轮子，现在被打成脑残外宣粉
穆斯林在美国，至少在学校里、在表面上是受尊重的
至少主流媒体没人敢歧视穆斯林
说实在的，接触过很多国内刚刚过来的访问也好、家属也好、学生也好，眼睛里很多恐惧，有点钱的又特别自大
放眼望去，多少ccp的受害者活在自己的世界
不知道哪里踩到了你尾巴，值得你这么喷
👍👍👍
你们这帮唯恐天下不乱的湾湾轮子也让我感到极其厌恶。
你这是法轮大法练到了黑腰带的水平了？
见到人就直接扣轮子的帽子，
看到谁都像是李老师？
敬佩敬佩！
所以你觉得应该怎么办呢？应该怎么做呢？马上回国，或者回不去就战战兢兢活在恐惧里？
还是你觉得再给中共30年？或者3年？
允许中共这样的政权存在，是所有华人世界的耻辱！
对于邪恶的而且具有强大力量的东西，正常的反应难道是去主动招惹它吗？
你看上去聪明的外表下藏着一颗愚蠢的心
手动点赞
你看上去，
挺贵的一副耳机，
戴在了一个篮球上
support一下
re
只有五毛们以及与土共有勾兑的人才会惶惶不可终日。堂堂正正做人的华人则会更加扬眉吐气！
我当这套外宣当年攻入国民党内部用的溜溜顺，尝到甜头了。辛苦的是国民党，剽窃功劳的是tg，现在那么多抗日神剧厉害国全部以为都是tg功劳。
看看这次疫情，去了十来个人摆拍，就是一个省包了一个国，其实意大利也没有接受莲花清瘟这些方案，吹嘘第一。
疫情前后大外宣的对内对外的攻势真是要吐了。
哈哈，湾湾轮子只会按训练教程发言，就是五毛，七毛，八毛之类。有沒有受过高等教育啊？稍微弄点不同的花样行不行？
好吧，祝福你吧，勇敢的屠龙勇士，冲上去把tg灭了吧 。
不要只打嘴炮，给老中招灾
提醒你一句，
你练功练得有些走火入魔了，
悬崖勒马即时止损啊！
我尊重你对李老师的爱，
但是请不要强加你的信仰在别的人身上好么？
＋1
希望你早日把你的篮球里面填满东西，
多接触社会，
出现无法自控的妄想症，即时就医
是的，我现在就想找美国人聊，揭露ccp的真相，痛诉中国人民的苦难
请认真看看我发的帖子。看看有没有可能你是篮球。
篮球啥的说法倒是挺别致。
哈哈。他本来就在廊坊吧吧。。
huaren上看多了，现在一眼就能看出带节奏的。这些wm 加工资到7毛，水平没有提升啊 。。。。
我理解现在就业压力大，
但是大外宣现在不搞职业培训就这么直接上岗了？
就这么赤裸裸地告诉海外华人：”你们不要说党的坏话，不然你们在海外日子也不好过”
别说，还真有很多人信你们，
那个家里做无牌口罩生意的ID，
就天天捧你们的臭脚
这么多年才五毛加到七毛，还赶不上大米涨价速度吧，这工资也就是饿不死的水平，就不要指望水平提升了。
纳粹 日本军国 印尼红色政权，都在作恶之后被清洗了。
现在只有一个毒瘤还没被清算。因为作恶都是对内啊，弄死百姓几千万，不伤欧美一根毛。现在作恶到国外了，终于要被收拾了！
至于美国有没有经济危机民粹，不劳墙内的韭菜操心了。
余杰：来生不做中国人
看，暴露了吧，我一说湾湾轮子，你就出来胡搅蛮缠，自动对号入座了。
湾湾轮子都是华人，没觉得有啥不好。
有些wm战狼自觉是高人一等的华人，真是从不照镜子。。。。。
你这个人就是典型的，
吃着法轮功的饭，
砸法轮功的锅，
你比法轮功还恶心，
恕我直言
台湾是华人的民主自由之光，法轮功是反共急先锋，致敬！
先上来给别人扣玩玩轮子帽子的貌似是你吧，所以自己胡搅蛮缠可以，别人就不行，真是我党流氓智商的化身啊，廊坊的饭菜可口么？
你这一说，楼上五毛七毛要气急败坏了，😂😂
TG使出了最后的杀手锏，不要脸
从历史上讲，共党就是华人的灾星。
对华人最种族歧视的，就是在国内，七毛大外宣就是故意视而不见
那个恶心的发帖的人根本就不在美国。
川普总统不是一个人
7毛还有一个误区，就是川普一下台，美国马上要跪舔厉害国
可不是么，皇帝都换人了还不大赦天下？
你这狗屁的统计学啊。照你这么说，美国人在美国被殴打的概率，远远高于美国人在中国的被殴打的概率，所以美国政府比中国政府更“排美”？
来生是顾不到了，这辈子怎么办？去买顶MAGA帽子戴，然后把蓝皮护照盖在脸上可以吗？会被老美叫Chinese Virus吗？好怕怕啊。
你真是太不了解7毛了，如今国内没人希望川建国下台
党妈啥时候要过脸？
你是在担心别人么？好有爱心啊。。。
你是在担心自己么？还是那句老话，太平洋没加盖。。。
re，最初是谁出来丢人现眼派外交狗出来乱吠，我们都没忘记，谁是始作俑者我们心里牢记着。那么外交狗吠完了，人家要调查了证实一下怎么反而心虚了？还有，不要这个时候来绑架海外华人什么命运共同体，问问在俄罗斯那些个有家不能回的国人是什么真实感受。需要利用的时候，就来道德绑架上海华，不需要利用的时候什么时候想过海华是利益共同体？做出来的事完全是把海华推在火上烤。看看前些日子微博上自上而下带节奏的那些没人性的谩骂、幸灾乐祸和落井下石，不管是谁，都不会这么快忘记的。这次疫情前前后后做的那些人性泯灭的事，谁也忘不了！