COVID-19 Origin Act signed unanimously; ODNI releases declassified WIV report

Sen. Josh Hawley's S.619 passed the Senate and House unanimously and was signed by President Biden as P.L. 118-2, requiring ODNI to declassify information on potential links between the Wuhan Institute of Virology and COVID-19's origin. The June 23, 2023 report detailed WIV biosafety gaps (SARS-like coronavirus work at BSL-2), PLA collaboration, and ill researchers in fall 2019 — while finding no direct evidence of a research-related incident, no WIV possession of SARS-CoV-2 or a close progenitor pre-pandemic, and no bioweapon development; all agencies still judged both natural and lab origins plausible.