China spent years angrily trying to shut down the theory that COVID-19 came from its labs. It failed.

• The FBI's director has added his support to claims COVID-19 leaked from a lab in China. 
• The theory was dismissed by some as disinformation during the initial months of the pandemic. 
• But it has gained credibility in some quarters, despite angry denials from China. 

Once dismissed as a wild conspiracy theory, the claim that COVID-19 leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan, China, is gaining traction. 

FBI Director Christopher Wray on Tuesday lent his support to the claim in an interview with Fox News, saying the virus "most likely" originated in a "Chinese government-controlled lab."