What did Trump and Congress know about the coronavirus, and when did they know it?

These intelligence assessments about the global danger posed by the virus made the rounds in the executive and legislative branches, sources told The Post, but the American people weren’t told about them. Now Americans should know precisely what their government knew about an impending crisis that would jeopardize their livelihoods and lives.

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These reports should be declassified, to the maximum extent feasible, and released as soon as possible, along with the identities of senior administration officials and members of Congress who learned of it. That’s especially true given how Trump repeatedly told the public that the impact of the virus on the United States would be minimal…

Declassification of the coronavirus reports and briefings could occur quickly, and there’s no reason it shouldn’t. Congressional intelligence committees can make immediate requests for the assessments and reports, and they can seek declassification for public release directly from the agencies that produced the information. While decisions regarding classification can, when difficult, percolate up to the director of national intelligence, or even the president, they don’t have to; agency heads have sufficient discretion of their own.

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