The problem for the lab-leak position is that the U.S. has never had access to the Wuhan lab and has thus been unable to reach a definitive answer for more than five years. Now that the CIA has at last come to a conclusion, not all scientists are sold on what it has reported, seeing the results as thinly scientifically sourced.
Newly-confirmed CIA Director John Ratcliffe told Fox News the decision to release a Biden-era analysis favoring the COVID-19 lab leak theory is a step toward transparency.
The intelligence agency says it has ‘low confidence’ in assessment and will continue to evaluate credible information.
John Ratcliffe, who was sworn in Thursday as director. "CIA assesses with low confidence that a research-related origin of the COVID-19 pandemic is more likely than a natural origin based on the ...
The CIA now assesses the virus that causes Covid-19 more likely originated from an accidental lab leak in China, rather than occurring naturally, according to a statement from the agency Saturday, just days after Director John Ratcliffe took the reins.
The CIA says both a natural origin and a lab leak "remain plausible" as potential sources of covid-19, following a review of the pandemic's origins.
China on Monday dismissed the possibility that the virus that caused COVID-19 leaked from a lab, after the CIA said it now favors the so-called lab leak theory over natural transmission. “It is extremely unlikely the pandemic was caused by a lab leak,
The Central Intelligence Agency previously said that two explanations were plausible, a lab leak or a natural source for the virus. Yet under new agency director John Ratcliffe, the CIA has changed its view, which is now in line with that of the Department of Energy and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The CIA investigated the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic, and determined, with low confidence, the origin was likely a lab leak in China.
It was unclear the extent to which the agency has collected new intelligence on COVID-19's origins and whether that new evidence was used to formulate the latest assessment.
Langley joins the FBI and Energy Department in agreeing that a lab leak is the most likely source of the pandemic.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe warned his agents of "changes" to come under his leadership in a memo obtained by Fox News Digital.