The ‘Not a Consensus’ Wuhan Covid Dodge

White House spokespersons played the press corps like a Stradivarius on Monday as they ducked questions about Sunday’s report that the Energy Department has concluded the Covid virus probably originated in a Chinese laboratory.

“There is not a consensus right now in the U.S. government about exactly how Covid started,” said John Kirby, the White House national-security spokesman. “There is just not an intelligence community consensus.”

So what? When was the last time there was an intelligence community consensus on anything? No reporter asked Mr. Kirby that question, but we don’t mind doing so.

By its very nature, intelligence is usually murky and open to different interpretations. That’s why agencies attach terms like “low confidence” or “moderate confidence” to their judgments. A difference in agency views can be useful because it means there is less chance of groupthink influencing policy choices.