Pompeo says Wuhan lab was engaged in military activity alongside civilian research

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Saturday that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was engaged in military activity alongside its civilian research -- amid renewed scrutiny of the theory that the COVID-19 pandemic emerged from the secretive lab.

"They refuse to tell us what it was, they refuse to describe the nature of either of those, they refused to allow access to the World Health Organization when it tried to get in there." While it is widely accepted that the pandemic originated in Wuhan, it has been debated whether it originated in a nearby wet market or the secretive institute. The Trump administration promoted the lab leak theory, but it was downplayed by media outlets and some experts, who declared it a conspiracy theory.