The U.S. Department of Energy believes that the COVID-19 pandemic is likely based on a laboratory accident in China. The Wall Street Journal reported this, citing a classified DOE intelligence report submitted to the White House and key members of Congress. The report notes that different parts of the intelligence community have reached different judgments about the origins of the pandemic. In 2021, the FBI concluded with "moderate certainty" that the pandemic was probably the result of a laboratory leak, and still holds that view. Meanwhile, four other agencies, along with the National Reconnaissance Group, still believe it is a naturally occurring virus, and two others are undecided. As the publication notes, the Energy Department's conclusion is based on new intelligence and is important because the agency has considerable scientific expertise and controls a network of U.S. national laboratories, some of which conduct cutting-edge biological research. At the same time, the Energy Department rendered its decision with "low confidence." U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan neither denied nor confirmed The Wall Street Journal's report, but stressed that Biden has repeatedly directed U.S. intelligence agencies to investigate a pandemic coronavirus. According to Sullivan, there are different views within the U.S. intelligence community, and several intelligence agencies have stated that they do not have enough information to draw unequivocal conclusions.