WH: DOE Lab Leak Report: Not a Consensus How Covid Started; Accountable? Gain-Of-Function Research?

On February 27, 2023, National Security Council spokesman Admiral John Kirby fielded an extended round of questions from White House reporters about the Department of Energy’s newly reported assessment that COVID-19 most likely originated from a laboratory leak in China. The briefing saw multiple reporters pressing Kirby on whether the administration would hold China accountable, whether President Biden had been briefed on the DOE findings, and whether Biden supported gain-of-function research. Kirby repeatedly stated there was “not a consensus” within the U.S. government on the pandemic’s origins.

The DOE Lab Leak Report

The Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend of February 25-26, 2023, that the U.S. Department of Energy had concluded with “low confidence” that the COVID-19 pandemic most likely originated from a laboratory incident in China. The report highlighted the fractured state of the U.S. intelligence community’s assessment of the pandemic’s origins: the Energy Department joined the FBI in favoring the lab leak theory, while four other agencies and a national intelligence panel still judged that natural transmission was the more likely cause, and two agencies remained undecided.

Fox News White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich opened the questioning by asking Kirby directly about the DOE findings: “On the Department of Energy’s findings, the lab leak most likely caused the pandemic, how should Americans understand China’s response here, saying that this is politically motivated, that it’s a lie, there’s no science to back it and swatting down this information.”

Kirby responded: “There is not a consensus right now in the U.S. government about exactly how COVID started. There is just not an intelligence community consensus.”

Kirby Declines to Confirm DOE Reporting

Throughout the briefing, Kirby refused to directly confirm the Wall Street Journal’s reporting on the DOE assessment. When AP reporter Chris Megerian asked, “What caused DOE’s shipment of assessment and was the President himself briefed on that?” Kirby replied: “Again, I’m not going to confirm the press reporting. I’d refer you to DOE, but I’m not going to confirm the press reporting that was out there.”

Kirby emphasized that the investigation was a “whole of government effort” and that the President had directed the National Labs, which report through the Department of Energy, to study the origins of COVID alongside the intelligence community. “It wasn’t just an effort that was confined to the intelligence community,” Kirby noted.

When pressed on whether there would ever be a definitive answer from the Biden administration on COVID’s origins, Kirby said: “There’s just no consensus across the government. The work continues and I’m not going to get ahead of conclusions that haven’t been arrived at yet.”

Was Biden Briefed?

Reporters pressed Kirby on whether President Biden himself had been briefed on the DOE’s updated assessment. Kirby gave a careful answer: “The President has stayed informed throughout this entire process of a whole of government effort to try to get at the roots and the origins of COVID.”

When asked again specifically whether Biden was briefed on the DOE report, Kirby repeated: “The President has been kept informed and kept apprised and he’s been, and he’s actively wanted to know what we know every step along the way.” The answer stopped short of confirming a specific briefing on the DOE assessment, prompting a reporter to note the ambiguity.

Holding China Accountable

Heinrich pressed Kirby on how Biden would respond to China if it was determined that Beijing had been dishonest about the origins of the pandemic. As captured in the transcript, Heinrich asked: “The President responds to China though, if it’s determined that they lied about all this, and now we’re trying to paint the administration in such a negative light. How will he respond to Xi?”

Kirby deflected: “Well, let’s not get ahead of where we are in the process right now. So, given that we don’t have a consensus, it would be foolish for me to get out ahead of speculation on hypothetical situations to come. We just aren’t there yet.”

When asked whether Biden planned to ask Chinese President Xi Jinping to cooperate with investigations, Kirby stated: “We have consistently made it clear that we want China’s full cooperation in a full transparent way with the investigations into COVID, including when he met with President Xi in Bali just a couple of months ago.”

Kirby also refused to condemn China’s characterization of the lab leak theory as politically motivated, instead falling back on the lack of consensus within the U.S. intelligence community.

Gain-of-Function Research

The briefing took a notable turn when a reporter asked whether President Biden believed that the rewards of gain-of-function research outweighed the risks. The exchange, as captured in the transcript, was particularly striking.

The reporter asked: “Without weighing in one way or the other on origin of the virus, you’ve made clear that there’s no consensus. Does the President believe though that the reward outweighs the risk when it comes to gain of function research?”

Kirby initially appeared confused by the scientific terminology, saying: “I got a history degree. You’re going to have to say that again.” After the question was repeated, Kirby responded: “He believes that so that we understand it, so that we can prevent them, we can prevent them from happening, obviously. But he also believes, and this is why he wants the whole of government effort here to understand it, that that research has to be done, it must be done in a safe and secure manner and as transparent as possible to the rest of the world so that people know what’s going on.”

The reporter summarized Kirby’s answer: “I think that’s a fancy way of saying yes.” The exchange highlighted the administration’s position that gain-of-function research should continue under safety protocols, even as questions about whether such research may have contributed to the pandemic remained unresolved.

New Intelligence Since 2021

A reporter noted that in October 2021, the intelligence community had also failed to reach consensus on COVID’s origins, and asked whether new intelligence had been gathered since then that might have led the DOE to change its conclusion. Kirby again declined to confirm the DOE report, but acknowledged the broader investigative framework: “Without confirming the press reporting on the Department of Energy’s work here, and the context for them is that they run the national labs and the President wanted the national labs involved there. Again, a whole of government effort.”

Kirby added: “The work is still ongoing and obviously regardless of what the source is, it’s important for people to know that scientific research needs to occur in a safe and secure manner.”

Additional Context

The February 2023 DOE report marked a significant shift in the debate over COVID-19 origins. When the pandemic began in 2020, the lab leak hypothesis was widely dismissed by many in the scientific and media establishment, with social media platforms suppressing discussion of the theory. By early 2023, the FBI and DOE both assessed that a lab leak was the most likely explanation, though the broader intelligence community remained divided.

China consistently denied that the virus originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology and blocked independent international investigations into the lab. The Biden administration’s position, as articulated by Kirby at this briefing, was to continue investigating while avoiding definitive public statements, citing the lack of consensus.

Key Takeaways

• NSC spokesman John Kirby repeatedly stated on February 27, 2023, that “there is not a consensus right now in the U.S. government about exactly how COVID started,” despite the DOE’s new assessment favoring the lab leak theory.
• Kirby refused to confirm the Wall Street Journal’s reporting on the DOE assessment and declined to say whether Biden had been specifically briefed on it, saying only that the President had been “kept informed.”
• When asked how Biden would hold China accountable if they had lied about COVID’s origins, Kirby said “it would be foolish for me to get out ahead of speculation on hypothetical situations.”
• On gain-of-function research, Kirby indicated Biden believed such research “has to be done” but “in a safe and secure manner,” which a reporter characterized as “a fancy way of saying yes.”
• Kirby refused to condemn China’s dismissal of the lab leak theory as politically motivated, instead repeatedly citing the ongoing investigation and lack of government consensus.