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You won't have to wait long for confirmation. The Director of National Intelligence will be required by law to declassify information about the infected researc

You won't have to wait long for confirmation. The Director of National Intelligence will be required by law to declassify information about the infected researchers on June 18th, including their names, symptoms, date of onset and role at WIV.[1] [1] https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/619/text https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/619...

geuis 3y ago
Hey that's a cool link. I'm kinda embarrassed to say I didn't know you could track bills like this going through Congress. Thanks for the lead.
- nevi-me 3y ago
  I discounted the article, especially the below part because anyone can say they're "100%" certain about something while they're not. > When a source was asked how certain they were that these were the identities of the three WIV scientists who developed symptoms consistent with COVID-19 in the fall of 2019, we were told, “100%” ... That's until I saw that Act on Congress' website. It'll be interesting to see what information is declassified. If there's proof that the mentioned scientists were first to fall ill, I wonder what the consequences are.
  - throwaway4good 3y ago
    Maybe it will be used as an excuse to cancel the forth-coming Blinken visit to China: https://edition.cnn.com/2023/06/14/politics/blinken-china-announcement/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2023/06/14/politics/blinken-china-an... Blinken to travel to China this weekend as US looks to reset relations after spy balloon incident
    - unsupp0rted 3y ago
      That would look bad diplomatically. It’s one thing to make up an excuse before going. It’s another thing to cancel in the middle and leave. Not sure what would be accomplished by this.
ZoomerCretin 3y ago
>You won't have to wait long for confirmation. Confirmation that they were sick. Not confirmation of what they were sick with.
- Reason077 3y ago
  Given the location, the timing, the symptoms, the severity of the illness (it's unusual for 'flu to put healthy young adults in hospital) I think we can be pretty confident in our guess.
  - wavefunction 3y ago
    My Aunt was killed by the flu. She had a pre-existing unknown heart-condition and despite her healthy lifestyle the flu weakened her heart enough that she needed a heart-transplant in her early 20s. She died at age 27. I tell this story whenever it is possible, to educate people about what the flu is capable of doing, whenever someone says the flu is "no big deal." Statistically, perhaps not. Unless you're the statistic that is.
    - NotYourLawyer 3y ago
      Not really relevant here though.
      - jjulius 3y ago
        They are replying directly to a tangential comment that someone else made. It might not be relevant to this overall thread, but it's relevant to this particular comment chain.
        peteradio 3y ago
        Did any of the 3 researchers in question have something that would make them more likely to get seriously ill?
1024core 3y ago
> on June 18th which happens to be a Sunday...
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
vt102 3y ago
How can you determine the June 18th date? I'm not finding a reference to it.
- metafour 3y ago
  Section 3 paragraph 1 states > Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act… It looks like it was signed into law by the President on 3/20/23
- Neekerer 3y ago
  90 days <<NOTE: Deadline.>> Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of National Intelligence shall-- (1) declassify any and all information relating to potential links between the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the origin of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), including-- (A) activities performed by the Wuhan Institute of Virology with or on behalf of the People's Liberation Army; (B) coronavirus research or other related activities performed at the Wuhan Institute of Virology prior to the outbreak of COVID-19; and (C) researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology who fell ill in autumn 2019, including for any such researcher-- (i) the researcher's name; (ii) the researcher's symptoms; (iii) the date of the onset of the researcher's symptoms; [[Page 137 STAT. 5]] (iv) the researcher's role at the Wuhan Institute of Virology; (v) whether the researcher was involved with or exposed to coronavirus research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology; (vi) whether the researcher visited a hospital while they were ill; and (vii) a description of any other actions taken by the researcher that may suggest they were experiencing a serious illness at the time; and (2) <<NOTE: Reports.>> submit to Congress an unclassified report that contains-- (A) all of the information described under paragraph (1); and (B) only such redactions as the Director determines necessary to protect sources and methods.
bandyaboot 3y ago
At the moment I’m skeptical of how revelatory the report and documents will be. The act specifically mentions the possibility of redactions to protect sources and methods. We’ll have to wait and see what size of bus the DNI attempts to drive through that hole.
- j16sdiz 3y ago
  This is not going to be revelatory. This is just a stamp on various anonymous "sources" on what we have heard already.
  - bandyaboot 3y ago
    Yeah, that was the wrong word. At the moment I’m skeptical of how much value it will have as far as confirming or refuting this article for the aforementioned reason.
Accujack 3y ago
If any exists.
hedora 3y ago
Regardless of that, we already know they were doing related biological weapons research, as part of a cooperative program with the US. Funny how congress isn’t focusing on the stuff they have direct jurisdiction over, like refusing to fund similar programs in the future unless there is additional oversight.
- tim333 3y ago
  That's a bit misleading. The US via EcoHealth was funding virus research for disease prevention. The Wuhan lab may have been doing weapons research but that's a bit unproven.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
ricksunny 3y ago
Assuming DNI chooses to divulge that tidbit formally. Per Biden's published interpretation of that law, they can withhold anything on grounds of 'national security' (note not the narrower 'sources and methods' scope). https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/03/20/statement-by-the-president-on-s-619-the-covid-19-origin-act-of-2023/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases... What could 'national security' be construed as? : https://twitter.com/gdemaneuf/status/1669165325722722306?t=Mi9WSzhw6A9-tlNO1jBgyg&s=19 https://twitter.com/gdemaneuf/status/1669165325722722306?t=M...
- Apofis 3y ago
  National Security being anything that can be deemed dangerous to the Executive Branch. A very broad stroke these days, that's even used to paint opposing politicians by both parties.
  - SaviorFaire 3y ago
    [flagged]

geuis 3y ago

Hey that's a cool link. I'm kinda embarrassed to say I didn't know you could track bills like this going through Congress. Thanks for the lead.

nevi-me 3y ago
I discounted the article, especially the below part because anyone can say they're "100%" certain about something while they're not. > When a source was asked how certain they were that these were the identities of the three WIV scientists who developed symptoms consistent with COVID-19 in the fall of 2019, we were told, “100%” ... That's until I saw that Act on Congress' website. It'll be interesting to see what information is declassified. If there's proof that the mentioned scientists were first to fall ill, I wonder what the consequences are.
- throwaway4good 3y ago
  Maybe it will be used as an excuse to cancel the forth-coming Blinken visit to China: https://edition.cnn.com/2023/06/14/politics/blinken-china-announcement/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2023/06/14/politics/blinken-china-an... Blinken to travel to China this weekend as US looks to reset relations after spy balloon incident
  - unsupp0rted 3y ago
    That would look bad diplomatically. It’s one thing to make up an excuse before going. It’s another thing to cancel in the middle and leave. Not sure what would be accomplished by this.

ZoomerCretin 3y ago

>You won't have to wait long for confirmation. Confirmation that they were sick. Not confirmation of what they were sick with.

Reason077 3y ago
Given the location, the timing, the symptoms, the severity of the illness (it's unusual for 'flu to put healthy young adults in hospital) I think we can be pretty confident in our guess.
- wavefunction 3y ago
  My Aunt was killed by the flu. She had a pre-existing unknown heart-condition and despite her healthy lifestyle the flu weakened her heart enough that she needed a heart-transplant in her early 20s. She died at age 27. I tell this story whenever it is possible, to educate people about what the flu is capable of doing, whenever someone says the flu is "no big deal." Statistically, perhaps not. Unless you're the statistic that is.
  - NotYourLawyer 3y ago
    Not really relevant here though.
    - jjulius 3y ago
      They are replying directly to a tangential comment that someone else made. It might not be relevant to this overall thread, but it's relevant to this particular comment chain.
      - peteradio 3y ago
        Did any of the 3 researchers in question have something that would make them more likely to get seriously ill?

1024core 3y ago

> on June 18th which happens to be a Sunday...

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

vt102 3y ago

How can you determine the June 18th date? I'm not finding a reference to it.

metafour 3y ago
Section 3 paragraph 1 states > Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act… It looks like it was signed into law by the President on 3/20/23
Neekerer 3y ago
90 days <<NOTE: Deadline.>> Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of National Intelligence shall-- (1) declassify any and all information relating to potential links between the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the origin of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), including-- (A) activities performed by the Wuhan Institute of Virology with or on behalf of the People's Liberation Army; (B) coronavirus research or other related activities performed at the Wuhan Institute of Virology prior to the outbreak of COVID-19; and (C) researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology who fell ill in autumn 2019, including for any such researcher-- (i) the researcher's name; (ii) the researcher's symptoms; (iii) the date of the onset of the researcher's symptoms; [[Page 137 STAT. 5]] (iv) the researcher's role at the Wuhan Institute of Virology; (v) whether the researcher was involved with or exposed to coronavirus research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology; (vi) whether the researcher visited a hospital while they were ill; and (vii) a description of any other actions taken by the researcher that may suggest they were experiencing a serious illness at the time; and (2) <<NOTE: Reports.>> submit to Congress an unclassified report that contains-- (A) all of the information described under paragraph (1); and (B) only such redactions as the Director determines necessary to protect sources and methods.

bandyaboot 3y ago

At the moment I’m skeptical of how revelatory the report and documents will be. The act specifically mentions the possibility of redactions to protect sources and methods. We’ll have to wait and see what size of bus the DNI attempts to drive through that hole.

j16sdiz 3y ago
This is not going to be revelatory. This is just a stamp on various anonymous "sources" on what we have heard already.
- bandyaboot 3y ago
  Yeah, that was the wrong word. At the moment I’m skeptical of how much value it will have as far as confirming or refuting this article for the aforementioned reason.

Accujack 3y ago

If any exists.

hedora 3y ago

Regardless of that, we already know they were doing related biological weapons research, as part of a cooperative program with the US. Funny how congress isn’t focusing on the stuff they have direct jurisdiction over, like refusing to fund similar programs in the future unless there is additional oversight.

tim333 3y ago
That's a bit misleading. The US via EcoHealth was funding virus research for disease prevention. The Wuhan lab may have been doing weapons research but that's a bit unproven.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

ricksunny 3y ago

Assuming DNI chooses to divulge that tidbit formally. Per Biden's published interpretation of that law, they can withhold anything on grounds of 'national security' (note not the narrower 'sources and methods' scope). https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/03/20/statement-by-the-president-on-s-619-the-covid-19-origin-act-of-2023/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases... What could 'national security' be construed as? : https://twitter.com/gdemaneuf/status/1669165325722722306?t=Mi9WSzhw6A9-tlNO1jBgyg&s=19 https://twitter.com/gdemaneuf/status/1669165325722722306?t=M...

Apofis 3y ago
National Security being anything that can be deemed dangerous to the Executive Branch. A very broad stroke these days, that's even used to paint opposing politicians by both parties.
- SaviorFaire 3y ago
  [flagged]