The CIA has changed its assessment of the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, now favoring the lab leak theory. under its new director John Ratcliffethe agency released an assessment on the origins of Covid-19.
The review was ordered by Jake Sullivan, former President Joe Biden’s national security adviser while Biden was in office.
While former CIA Director Bill Burns remained agnostic about the origins, analysts assessed it with “low confidence” and told the agency it needed to take another look at the existing evidence and weigh in on one side or the other. aspects declined.
Security personnel outside the Wuhan Institute of Virology stand as members of a World Health Organization team investigating the origins of the COVID-19 coronavirus visit the Wuhan Institute in Hubei Province, central China, February 3, 2021. (Hector Retirement/AFP via Getty Images)
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The agency maintained for years it did not have enough intelligence to draw conclusions common origin A laboratory or wet market in Wuhan, China. Although there is new assessment in favor of the lab leak, there is no sign of any new evidence.
“The CIA has greater confidence in its assessment of the researched origins of the Covid-19 pandemic than its natural origins based on available reports. It remains reasonable for the CIA to continue to assess the COVID-19 pandemic,” a CIA spokesperson told Fox News .
“We have low confidence in this judgment and will continue to evaluate any credible new intelligence reports or open source information that could change the CIA’s assessment.”
Ratcliffe, who was confirmed on Thursday, has long been a proponent of the lab leak theory. In an interview with Breitbart, Ratcliffe assessed assessing the origins of Covid as part of a broader strategy to “address the China threat.”
He also said he wanted the CIA to “get out of the situation” and take a stand.
John Ratcliffe during his Senate intelligence confirmation hearing on January 15, 2025 in Washington, DC (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
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exist March 2023 The Fox News article, co-written by Ratcliffe with Cliff Sims, accuses the Biden administration of trying to keep the lab leak theory increasingly quiet by suppressing what “can be clearly assessed from the intelligence it possesses.”
He also cast doubt on the suspicion that the CIA did not have enough evidence to draw conclusions about the origins of the virus.
“The CIA is the premier spy agency in the world. Its coverage is unparalleled. Sufficient information to make an assessment.
Signs about COVID-19 testing are displayed outside a Covid-19 testing site as health walkers collect test tubes on December 3, 2021 in Wheeling, Illinois. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Well)
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In the same article, Ratcliffe and Sims dismissed the idea that the virus arose naturally, claiming there was “completely no intellectual or scientific evidence” pointing to this conclusion.
When he testified before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic in April 2023, Ratcliffe said the lab leak theory was “the only explanation that is reliably supported by our intelligence, science and common sense.”
