Additional Coverage:
- CIA believes COVID likely originated from a lab, but agency has low confidence in its own finding (newsbreak.com)
Washington – The CIA leans towards the theory that COVID-19 likely originated in a laboratory, possibly in China. This assessment, recently declassified, comes with a significant caveat: the agency has “low confidence” in its own conclusion.
This isn’t based on new intelligence, but rather a re-examination of existing data requested by the Biden administration and former CIA Director William Burns. The order to declassify and release the assessment came from former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe.
The CIA’s conclusion suggests the available evidence, while not definitive, points more towards a lab origin than a natural one. The low confidence level indicates the evidence is incomplete or conflicting.
The debate over COVID-19’s origins is far from settled. Intelligence officials believe a definitive answer may never be reached, hampered by a lack of cooperation from China.
The CIA acknowledges both lab and natural origins remain plausible. The assessment focuses on analyzing existing intelligence regarding the virus’s spread, characteristics, and the activities within Chinese virology labs.
The prevailing scientific theory suggests the virus originated in bats, then jumped to an intermediary animal species before spreading to humans at a market in Wuhan, China.
However, some investigations, including a Department of Energy report, have also pointed to a potential lab leak as the most likely scenario, also with low confidence.
Former DNI Ratcliffe has been a vocal proponent of the lab leak theory. The CIA stated it remains open to new information that could alter its assessment.