The CIA has updated its stance on the origins of the COVID-19 virus, now suggesting it probably came from a lab in Wuhan after the Biden administration’s previous denial.
A recently declassified report revealed that the agency suspects China’s involvement but lacks strong confidence in its findings due to insufficient and inconclusive proof.
This assessment, which didn’t uncover new information but revised current intelligence, was initiated by President Biden and former CIA Chief William Burns.
The Biden administration and then-COVID czar Anthony Fauci had repeatedly dismissed the lab-leak theory as a conspiracy, insisting the virus likely jumped naturally from animals to humans.
But mounting pressure from scientists and intelligence officials has chipped away at that narrative.
The move to declassify the findings was ordered by President Donald Trump’s pick for CIA director, John Ratcliffe, who was sworn in just days ago.
Ratcliffe has long championed the lab-leak theory, previously calling it “the only theory supported by science, intelligence, and common sense.”
While the CIA acknowledged both the lab-leak and natural origin scenarios remain “plausible”, it found the lab theory more likely, citing intelligence on the spread of the virus, its scientific properties, and conditions inside Chinese virology labs.
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