Former Biden COVID Chief Now Favors Lab-Leak Theory

Dr. Ashish Jha, who served as President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 response coordinator, revealed Sunday that he believes an accidental laboratory leak is the most likely explanation.

“When I went into the White House [in April 2022], my view was, this was almost surely a natural outbreak, maybe a lab leak,” Jha told CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“Based on information I learned and based on information I have seen, I have come to conclude that it is more likely to have been a lab leak,” he added.

That is a striking reversal from an official who entered the Biden administration strongly favoring the theory that COVID-19 emerged through natural transmission.

Jha did not disclose the specific information that changed his mind, and he repeatedly emphasized that he could not definitively establish the virus’s origin.

“Here’s the bottom line: No one in the United States knows for sure,” Jha said. “The only people who know for sure are people, officials in China, and we still need transparency and accountability on that.”

“So that is my best assessment. I’m not suggesting I know for sure, but I’m saying my best assessment is that it probably was a lab leak.”

Jha later clarified on X that he believes any such leak was accidental. He explicitly rejected the theories that the virus was deliberately released or engineered as a weapon.

“Based on strong circumstantial evidence I’ve seen, I think lab leak is much more likely. Not engineered. Not deliberate. Accidental,” Jha wrote. “Reasonable people can look at the same evidence and disagree.”

My view on COVID origins isn’t new — I’ve held it since my time at the White House

Here’s the truth: no one in America knows for sure. Anyone telling you they do is selling you something

Based on strong circumstantial evidence I’ve seen, I think lab leak is much more likely.…

— Ashish K. Jha (@ashishkjha) August 2, 2026

The Wuhan Institute of Virology was a major center for SARS and coronavirus research in Wuhan, China, where the first known COVID-19 outbreak emerged. The laboratory was known for studying bat coronaviruses.

Chinese authorities have faced years of demands for greater transparency about the earliest days of the outbreak, the research conducted in Wuhan, and the evidence surrounding the virus’s origin.

Jha’s comments will add new fuel to criticism of officials and institutions that dismissed or stigmatized discussion of a possible laboratory origin during the pandemic.

Watch the clip below:

Former Biden White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator, Dr. Ashish Jha, tells Dana Bash, “When I went into the White House, my view was this was almost surely a natural outbreak, maybe a lab leak. Based on information I learned and based on information I’ve seen, I have come to… pic.twitter.com/bovB2nUbq4

— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) August 2, 2026

More over at The New York Post:

Former Biden COVID-19 response coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha says pandemic ‘probably was a lab leak’ https://t.co/vklRiLUDdg pic.twitter.com/AHEbM10lk4

— New York Post (@nypost) August 3, 2026