During the COVID-19 pandemic, former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reportedly shared intelligence with the United Kingdom suggesting a potential lab leak origin of the coronavirus. The information was shared in January 2021 during a meeting of the intelligence alliance known as 'Five Eyes,' which includes the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Pompeo shared classified American reports with then-U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, indicating a 'high likelihood' of the virus originating from a Chinese lab. However, it is reported that the U.K. government may have disregarded the lab leak theory under pressure from government scientists who favored the theory of zoonotic transmission.
