Thanks to the mods for the stickie and all credit to Catsfive's earlier post inspiring me to do some digging. More findings of all frens always appreciated!
So the Department of Energy concluded about the virus and the lab theory?
"Why would the U.S. Department of Energy be weighing in on an investigation into the origins of Covid-19? The short answer is because the Energy Department has a special division that, as part of its mission to track and mitigate the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, specializes in the study of biological weapons such as viruses.
There are a lot of first-rate research institutions in the United States, but no one would dispute that the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is the biggest of the big-time. In 1949, the Soviet Union detonated its first atomic bomb, establishing itself as a true military rival to the U.S., and launching the Cold War nuclear-arms race.
The University of California Radiation Laboratory, Livermore Branch, opened September 2, 1952, on the site of a decommissioned Naval Air Station — and quickly became known as one of the two major government-funded labs developing and maintaining the nation’s nuclear arsenal."
The Department of Energy's Office of Intelligence (IN) is the Intelligence Community's premier technical intelligence resource in four core areas: nuclear weapons and nonproliferation; energy security; science and technology; and nuclear energy, safety, and waste.
https://irp.fas.org/agency/doe/index.html
https://orise.orau.gov/doescholars/files/about-doe-in-2019-handout.pdf
"The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) traces its origin to the Manhattan Project, which enlisted scientists studying fundamental physics to produce the first atomic weapons, and to the various energy-related programs that were dispersed throughout the federal government prior to DOE’s creation in 1977.
Today, the Department of Energy contributes to the future of the nation by.
.....ensuring our energy security
......producing and maintaining our nuclear stockpile
......promoting nuclear nonproliferation, and
......fostering fundamental science, advanced computing and technological innovation.
Transformative science and technology are central to DOE’s mission, and in this arena the Department’s capabilities are unmatched:
• DOE’s workforce includes thousands of scientists, engineers and experts who hold security clearances, enablingthem to engage in work essential to national security.
• DOE is the Nation’s largest supporter of research in the physical sciences, investing $5 billion annually.•Research supported by the Department has yielded over 100 Nobel prizes.
• The Department is home to three of the world’s five most powerful supercomputers.DOE’s Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence deploys this world-class scientific and technical expertise to meet America’s greatest national security challenges."
"The mission of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence is to identify and mitigate threats to U.S. national security and the DOE Enterprise and inform national security decisionmaking through scientific and technical expertise.
The Office functions within the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC), with accountability to both the Secretary of Energy and the Director of National Intelligence. Our primary missions are in the following areas:Scientifically Informed Intelligence Analysis.""
"DOE-IN analysis is deeply rooted in National Laboratory expertise, drawing from diverse fields, on enduring and emerging threats in:
•Foreign nuclear weapons and fuel cycle programs
•Nuclear material security and nuclear terrorism
•Counterintelligence issues
•Energy security•Cyber intelligence
•Strategic science and technology
"CounterintelligenceCounterintelligence programs are at the core of our fundamental responsibility to protect the nation’s nuclear secrets and other highly valuable intellectual property generated by the DOE complex.
Counterintelligence professionals work closely with experts and managers throughout the Department to protect vital national security information and technologies, representing intellectual property of incalculable value.
Key capabilities include:
•Counterintelligence awareness education within the DOE complex
•Threat information and analyses to protect DOE assets from foreign intelligence and terrorism
•Evaluation of insiders and foreign visitors who may pose a threat
•Investigations of cyber, terrorism, and espionage
"DOE Classification and Security" https://sgp.fas.org/classdoe.htm
Q clearance! "Until 1993, essentially every weapons laboratory employee had a Q clearance. These facilities worked for more than 40 years with the assumption that everyone who has access to it has a Q clearance.
AND ...
PROGRAM UNDER THE SECRETARY OF ENERGY --- "INTELLIGENCE AND COUNTERINTELLIGENCE"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Energy#Organization
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_Intelligence_and_Counterintelligence
"The Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence (OICI), also abbreviated IN, DOE-IN, DOE/IN, I&CI, or OIC, was established in 2006 by the merger of pre-existing Energy Department intelligence and security organizations.
It is an office of the United States Department of Energy (DOE) responsible for all intelligence and counterintelligence activities throughout the DOE complex; due to this central role, OICI is designated DOE's Headquarters Intelligence.
As a component of the United States Intelligence Community in addition to the Department of Energy, OICI reports to both the Director of National Intelligence and Secretary of Energy."
"Since June 2019, OICI directors have also been charged which determining which foreign government-sponsored talent recruitment programs (e.g. Thousand Talents Plan) pose intellectual property and espionage threats. Foreign governments deemed to be "of risk" will have American DOE/NNSA researchers and contractors barred from participation."
"Directorates and agency structure - OICI is divided into at least five directorates:
Intelligence Directorate: Assesses the capabilities, intentions, and activities of foreign powers, organizations, and persons who may be targeting the Department of Energy for espionage.
Counterintelligence Directorate: Protects the Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration from espionage and terrorism.
Management Directorate: Houses support activities for the other two directorates, including human resource services, contract support, and facility planning.
Energy and Environmental Security Directorate: Examines the impact of certain energy and environmental issues on U.S. national security, created in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Cyber Intelligence Directorate: Includes the Cyber Special Programs Division.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_Intelligence_and_Counterintelligence#Criticism
THE 17 LABS OF DOE - (go to page 106 of this document: https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/A-Handbook-for-Ending-Catastrophic-Biological-Risks_December-2021.pdf
"Cutting-edge work at the intersection of science and national security is conducted across the agency’s network of 17 Labs.
Their work includes energy innovation, science discovery, nuclear security and weapons activities, and environmental cleanup.
They also contribute significantly to research and development in the basic and applied life sciences through initiatives such as the Human Genome Project in the 1990s, the Biological Aerosol Sentry and Information System (BASIS) in the 2000s, and biological detection platforms like the Lawrence Livermore Microbial Detection Array in the 2010s."
(... but also start reading from page 103 on!)
REMEMBER RICHARD LUGAR AND THE BIOLABS?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Lugar#Post-Senate_career
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Lugar#Richard_G._Lugar_Center_for_Public_Health_Research
Here is also Richard Lugar mentioned - page 2 (remember the biolabs?)
"DOE Counterintelligence, Intelligence and Nuclear Security reorganization 1999": https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/hearings/106592.pdf
Obama and Richard Lugar 2005: https://media.nti.org/pdfs/148_2.pdf
https://www.thelugarcenter.org/about-lugar.html
1999: https://www.nonproliferation.org/wp-content/uploads/npr/lugar63.pdf
"We also visited Obolensk, the premier biologicalweapons research and development institute on the bac-terial pathogens plague, tularemia, and glanders, as wellas the world’s leading anthrax research institute.
Today, through Nunn-Lugar, the scientists at Obolensk are co-operating in vaccine research with the United States Army and Los Alamos National Laboratory.
We were given complete access to the facility: we examined the laboratories, saw various culture facilities, and observedNunn-Lugar pilot projects. Unfortunately, we had not received the requisite inoculations to enter the third floor—one of the largest biological and pathogen-strain li-braries in the world.
Obolensk has on file hundreds, if not thousands, of biological pathogens deadly to humanbeings. During our visit, the director of Obolensk pointed out that, without collaborative efforts with the West, he is convinced that institute security will fall to dangerous levels. It is clear that we must not allow unapproved access to this facility.
We discussed plans to enhance security for biological weapons materials at Obolensk and for an equally dangerous situation at an institute in eastern Siberia, which we call Vector.
The need for Nunn-Lugar to expand work in the bio-logical field is clear. The United States must continue towork to ensure that biological weapons research is halted in the former Soviet Union.
Furthermore, we must attempt to prevent proliferation and reduce the loss of trained biological scientists to rogue nations. We also must increase transparency in these facilities to enhance American military protection and counterterrorism capabilities.
The best way to accomplish these goals is to increase our activities and access to these facilities through Nunn-Lugar."
Perhaps for further digging: https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1127&context=facpub
Heh, I worked for several different contractors to DOE back in the day, doing nuclear cleanup at various sites around the country, but mostly in Oak Ridge, TN. You are quite right about DOE's "competency." I was told in a private meeting when I first started work there that our job was to make DOE not look stupid, and believe me, that was a full time job.