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In a significant and controversial development, the CIA has publicly indicated its support for the theory that COVID-19 emerged from a laboratory leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. This assessment marks a departure from the agency's previous stance of uncertainty regarding the origins of the virus. Notably, this conclusion was reached without new intelligence, raising questions about the motivations behind the shift and its implications for U.S.-China relations.
As of January 2025, the CIA's pivot towards favoring the lab leak theory stems from a reassessment of existing evidence regarding the conditions at Wuhan's high-security labs prior to the pandemic. This change follows years of debate and criticism, particularly after allegations emerged that the agency had previously pressured analysts to dismiss the lab leak hypothesis. With the new leadership under John Ratcliffe, further insights and clarifications regarding the pandemic's origins are anticipated amidst ongoing political tensions and calls for accountability from China.
InfoWars: The CIA has acknowledged that the “lab leak theory” is the most likely explanation for the origins of COVID-19, according to The New York Times.
The NYT on Saturday reported that the CIA has finally come out “in favor” of the theory that most of the world has already accepted for years now: that COVID-19 originated at the Level-4 biolab at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in late 2019.
The agency pivoted to that new conclusion without any new
intelligence after incoming Trump CIA director John Ratcliffe ordered
the analysis that started under Joe Biden to be released.
🚨BREAKING: CIA favors the belief that COVID-19 originated from a lab leak in China according to analysis released by new Director John Ratcliffe. pic.twitter.com/xuXK2Oi26a
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) January 25, 2025
From The Times:
The C.I.A. has said for years that it did not have enough information to conclude whether the Covid pandemic emerged naturally from a wet market in Wuhan, China, or from an accidental leak at a research lab there.
But the agency issued a new assessment this week, with analysts saying they now favor the lab theory.
There is no new intelligence behind the agency’s shift, officials said. Rather it is based on the same evidence it has been chewing over for months.
The analysis, however, is based in part on a closer look at the conditions in the high security labs in Wuhan province before the pandemic outbreak, according to people familiar with the agency’s work.
The CIA’s sudden pivot is notable given a whistleblower in 2023 revealed the agency bribed six of its own analysts from its COVID origin investigative team to reject the theory that COVID-19 resulted from a research-related leak of a new coronavirus in China.
The about-face comes just five days after Trump assumed office and with the agency under new leadership with Ratcliffe, who hinted more revelations would be forthcoming.
“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 told Breitbart on Thursday.
“But the CIA has not made that assessment or at least not made that assessment publicly. So I’m going to focus on that and look at the intelligence and make sure that the public is aware that the agency is going to get off the sidelines.”
Infowars notably reported as early as March 2020 that SARS-Cov-2 was likely leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology amid a gain-of-function research program.
That theory became more widely accepted after whistleblower virologists like Dr. Li Meng-Yan came forward in 2020 as well as US agencies like the FBI and the Department of Energy acknowledging in 2023 the lab leak as the most likely scenario that resulted in the plandemic.
Meanwhile, President Trump reportedly plans to issue executive orders banning federal funding of risky gain-of-function research, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
Will the 47th president this time hold China accountable for its role in facilitating the release of COVID? Time will tell.