“Analysts concluded it could be a cataclysmic event,” a source says.
As far back as late November, U.S. intelligence officials were warning that a contagion was sweeping through China’s Wuhan region, changing the patterns of life and business and posing a threat to the population, according to four sources briefed on the secret reporting.
Concerns about what is now known to be the novel coronavirus pandemic were detailed in a November intelligence report by the military’s National Center for Medical Intelligence (NCMI), according to two officials familiar with the document’s contents.
The report was the result of analysis of wire and computer intercepts, coupled with satellite images. It raised alarms because an out-of-control disease would pose a serious threat to U.S. forces in Asia — forces that depend on the NCMI’s work. And it paints a picture of an American government that could have ramped up mitigation and containment efforts far earlier to prepare for a crisis poised to come home.
“Analysts concluded it could be a cataclysmic event,” one of the sources said of the NCMI’s report. “It was then briefed multiple times to” the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon’s Joint Staff and the White House.
From that warning in November, the sources described repeated briefings through December for policy-makers and decision-makers across the federal government as well as the National Security Council at the White House. All of that culminated with a detailed explanation of the problem that appeared in the President’s Daily Brief of intelligence matters in early January, the sources said. For something to have appeared in the PDB, it would have had to go through weeks of vetting and analysis, according to people who have worked on presidential briefings in both Republican and Democratic administrations.
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The NCMI report was made available widely to people authorized to access intelligence community alerts. Following the report’s release, other intelligence community bulletins began circulating through confidential channels across the government around Thanksgiving, the sources said. Those analyses said China’s leadership knew the epidemic was out of control even as it kept such crucial information from foreign governments and public health agencies.
“It would be a significant alarm that would have been set off by this,” former Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary Mick Mulroy, now an ABC News contributor, said of the NCMI report. “And it would have been something that would be followed up by literally every intelligence-collection agency.”
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.@Gstephanopoulos: “Did the Pentagon receive an intelligence assessment on COVID in China last November from the National Center for Medical Intelligence?”
Defense Sec. Mark Esper: “I can’t recall, George, but we have many people that watch this closely.” https://t.co/d9XlhTygln pic.twitter.com/E89i7DjF4t
— ABC News (@ABC) April 5, 2020
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“When responding to a public health crisis or any other serious security threat, it is critical that our leaders react quickly and take steps to address the threat identified in the intelligence reporting,” said Cohen, the former acting undersecretary of DHS. “It’s not surprising to me that the intelligence community detected the outbreak; what is surprising and disappointing is that the White House ignored the clear warning signs, failed to follow established pandemic response protocols and were slow to put in place a government-wide effort to respond to this crisis.”
- Discussion
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As far back as late November, U.S. intelligence officials warned a contagion was sweeping through China’s Wuhan region, changing patterns of life and business and posing a threat to the population, sources briefed on the secret reporting tell @ABC News. https://t.co/bPBApJEDt1
— ABC News (@ABC) April 8, 2020Just as with 9/11, intel warnings came direct to POTUS in the PDB, in early JAN. After weeks of intel reporting on the PRC health crisis.
They knew about #COVID19 & how serious it was.
The IC was on the job — where was the White House?#ReleaseThePDBhttps://t.co/iYYZVRG4Wz
— John Schindler (@20committee) April 8, 2020
"'Analysts concluded [COVID19] could be a cataclysmic event,' one of the sources said of the NCMI’s report. 'It was then briefed multiple times to' the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon’s Joint Staff and the White House."
…this was back in November! NOVEMBER! https://t.co/bFRz0fM1e3
— Jarami Feith?? (@JarBomb) April 8, 2020
They can explain away everything except the PDB. Which goes direct to POTUS and a small group of top WH officials.
Don't let Team Trump blame the "Deep State" for their own catastrophic failures with #COVID19.#ReleaseThePDBhttps://t.co/ifDKJAd4IM
— John Schindler (@20committee) April 8, 2020
What about in, say, December?https://t.co/1ViV3bNLgZ
— John Schindler (@20committee) April 9, 2020
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