CIA now says Covid DID leak from dodgy Wuhan lab in bombshell U-turn on virus origin after years of denial under Biden
THE CIA now believes the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic most likely originated from a Wuhan lab after years of denial under Biden's administration.
In a bombshell declassified assessment released Saturday, the agency pointed the finger at China but admitted it had “low confidence” in its conclusion, citing incomplete and inconclusive evidence.
The report, based on fresh analyses of existing intelligence rather than new discoveries, was completed at the request of the Biden administration and former CIA Director 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.
But the agency’s low confidence in its conclusion highlights significant gaps in evidence, a result of what it called a lack of cooperation from Chinese authorities.
The report is unlikely to settle the fierce global debate over COVID’s origins.
Scientists remain divided, with many believing the virus likely jumped from bats to humans via an intermediate host, such as raccoon dogs or civet cats, at a Wuhan market.
Republican Senator Tom Cotton, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, hailed the CIA’s conclusion as vindication for lab-leak advocates.
"Now, the most important thing is to make China pay for unleashing a plague on the world," Cotton said in a statement.
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