A leading theory among intelligence experts and international analysts is that the virus came into human contact from a wet market but the US intelligence community has said it is looking into both possibilities.
“We don’t have certainty. And there is significant evidence that this came from the laboratory. Those statements can both be true. I’ve made them both. Administration officials have made them. They’re all true,” he said at a press conference at the State Department Wednesday.
However, Pompeo asserted that the lack of certainty was not a contradiction from his past assertions, claiming that they could “both be true.”
Pompeo claimed there was “no separation” in the disparate answers from himself, top US military officials, Five Eyes officials, and the intelligence community.
“We’re all trying to figure out the right answer. We’re all trying to get to clarity,” he said. “There are different levels of certainty assessed at different places. That’s highly appropriate. People stare at data sets and come to different levels of confidence. Every one of us stares at this and knows the reality. The reality of this came from Wuhan.”
On a Sunday appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” Pompeo asserted that “there is a significant amount of evidence that this came from that laboratory in Wuhan.”
This story is breaking and will be updated.
