US officials shared 'gobsmacking' Covid lab leak file with UK government but were 'ignored'

US officials shared “gobsmacking” Covid lab file leaks with the UK at the height of the pandemic which suggests the origins of the virus comes from a Chinese lab.

The “high likelihood” of the virus spreading from the Chinese laboratories in Wuhan was suggested in archived files first aired by Five Eyes intelligence-sharing nations. The group convened in January 2021 to discuss the possibility of a lab leak, which the US had warned of as China had been researching coronaviruses in a laboratory also noted for military activity.

A previously unreported phone call between former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab aired the theory as representatives from Canada, New Zealand and Australia were all informed of the alleged lab leak.

Dominic Raab and Mike Pompeo

Two Donald Trump administration officials have now accused ex-Foreign Sec. Raab of ignoring the lab leak theory because of resistance from government scientists who believed the virus had jumped from animals to humans.

Mr Pompeo’s report read: “We saw several pieces of information and thought that they were, frankly, gobsmacking. They obviously pointed to the high likelihood that this was indeed a lab leak.” Mr Pompeo’s report was compiled by the State Department and issued between October and December 2020.

The State Department has since released several documents of interest including one where US officials warned of “consistent stonewalling” by China while local officials were accused of “gross corruption and ineptitude”. One of the Five Eyes officials later alleged the other countries were “annoyed” by the US findings.

They said: “Once the thing became fundamentally political, the ability to pursue it internationally really just collapsed because no one else was interested in touching it. I think [Five Eyes] were kind of annoyed by the way the issue had become treated in US politics.”

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Wuhan Institute of Virology

Michael Gove told the Covid inquiry there was a “significant body of judgement that believes that the virus was man-made – and that presents its own set of challenges,” Yahoo reported.

The call made in January 2021 was held on a deliberately “open line” without security encryption in the hopes Chinese intelligence agencies would; hear Western nations were aware of military activity in Wuhan. A State Department source said: “We did that deliberately…we wanted to put pressure on the bad guys.”

A UK government spokesman said: “There are still questions that need to be answered about the origin and spread of Covid-19, not least so we can ensure we are better prepared for future pandemics. The UK continues to support the World Health Organisation in its expert study of the origins of Covid-19. It is important that China and other countries cooperate fully with the researchers.”