Very, Very Strange

Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

I’ve mentioned before that news of US intelligence reports from November 2019 about a disease outbreak in China are extremely difficult to square with the most exacting news reporting and genomic analyses of the virus itself. And yet, according to the Times of Israel, Israel’s Channel 12 reported today that the US Intelligence Community became aware of an “emerging disease” in the second week of November. The Trump administration “did not deem it of interest” but intelligence officials shared a classified report with NATO and Israel.

This certainly lines up with the ABC News report from a week ago, though it doesn’t say clearly whether it was the same report.

All the same points apply. This is not consistent with the best reporting about the origins of the virus and epidemic and also not consistent with the best science we have about when the outbreak started. Either this reporting is wrong or something very basic is wrong with the other reporting and the best science.

Latest Editors' Blog
  • |
    April 27, 2025 12:56 p.m.

    New ABC/WaPo poll shows a similar story to AP-NORC poll: Trump dipping below 40% approval for the first time in…

  • |
    April 26, 2025 6:12 p.m.

    I said yesterday that I thought we likely weren’t far away from the first national poll which showed Donald Trump’s…

  • |
    April 24, 2025 9:35 p.m.

    Government Executive: “The Veterans Affairs Department is requiring all employees working on its plans to slash tens of thousands of…

  • |
    April 24, 2025 9:22 p.m.

    Question: I’m looking for examples of medical schools which may just have received a letter from the Justice Department demanding…

Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor-at-Large:
Contributing Editor:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher & Digital Producer:
Senior Developer:
Senior Designer: