CIA says lab leak is the most likely cause of COVID

Previously scorned by authorities and "experts," and even branded as "conspiracy theory", the laboratory leak hypothesis continues to gain traction as a possible explanation for the origin of COVID-19. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was the latest to give it credence, releasing a statement in which it acknowledges as more likely that the virus originated in a research facility rather than in nature.

The agency acknowledges, however, that it has "low" confidence in its own conclusion. "CIA continues to assess that both research-related and natural origin scenarios of the COVID-19 pandemic remain plausible," reads the statement, reported in full by reporter Nick Schifrin:

New CIA director promises more details

The new conclusion stems from a review of information already available, according to officials quoted by The New York Times. During the last few months, according to them, the agency revisited the information it had available focusing on the safety conditions of the laboratories in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the first infections were recorded.

While the lab leak theory points to the Wuhan Institute of Virology as the site where the virus was created, the opposing theory holds that it originated in nature and was probably transmitted to humans in the city's wet market. In its brief statement, the CIA did not elaborate on this or other details.

Information that the new CIA director, John Ratcliffe, confirmed just days ago, promised to reveal. In his first interview in office, he assured Breitbart that reviewing intelligence on the origin of COVID was "a day-one thing."

"I’ve been on record as you know in saying I think our intelligence, our science, and our common sense all really dictates that the origins of COVID was a leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology," Ratcliffe added after accusing the agency he now heads of going "on the sidelines for five years in not making an assessment" on the issue.

The CIA's recent reassessment, however, is a legacy of its predecessors. In its final weeks, the Biden administration ordered the agency to reanalyze classified information on the origin of the pandemic. The conclusions are the product of that review.

In mid-2023, CIA recognized that it was unable to rule out either hypothesis, claiming both were based on assumptions and faced conflicting information. At the time, the intelligence community was divided. While five agencies leaned toward natural contagion, the Department of Energy and the FBI leaned toward a laboratory leak. All admitted that both were plausible.