CIA on COVID origins: US intelligence agency believes virus came from China’s lab, but has less confidence in finding it Mint

The CIA now believes the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic likely originated from a laboratory, according to an assessment released Saturday, pointing the finger at China while also acknowledging that the spy agency There is “low confidence” in its conclusions.

The finding is not the result of any new intelligence, and the report was completed at the behest of the Biden administration and former CIA Director William Burns. It was made public and released Saturday on the orders of John Ratcliffe, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the agency, who was sworn in as director on Thursday.

The microscopic findings show that the agency believes the totality of the evidence makes a laboratory origin more likely than a natural origin. But the agency’s assessment conveys low confidence in this conclusion, suggesting that the evidence is insufficient, inconclusive or contradictory.

Earlier reports on the origins of COVID-19 have been divided over whether the coronavirus came from a Chinese laboratory, possibly accidentally, or whether it arose naturally. The new assessment is unlikely to resolve the debate. In fact, intelligence officials say that this will never be resolved due to lack of cooperation from Chinese authorities.

“The CIA continues to assess that both research-related and natural origin scenarios for the COVID-19 pandemic remain plausible,” the agency wrote in a statement about its new assessment.

Rather than new evidence, the conclusion was based on fresh analysis of intelligence about the spread of the virus, its scientific properties, and the work and conditions of China’s virology laboratories.

Lawmakers have pressured US spy agencies for more information about the origins of the virus, which has caused lockdowns, economic turmoil and millions of deaths. It is a question with significant domestic and geopolitical implications as the world grapples with the legacy of the pandemic.

Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on Saturday that he was “pleased that the CIA concluded in the final days of the Biden administration that the lab-leak theory is the most plausible explanation” and he praised Ratcliffe for making public Appreciated. assessment.

“Now, the most important thing is that China will have to pay for unleashing the pandemic on the world,” Cotton said in a statement.

Chinese officials have dismissed speculation about the origins of Covid as unhelpful and politically motivated. On Saturday, a spokesperson for the US Embassy in China said that the CIA report has no credibility.

“We strongly oppose the politicization and stigmatization of the source of the virus, and once again urge everyone to respect science and refrain from conspiracy theories,” embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu said in a statement emailed to The Associated Press. Let’s call for.”

While the origin of the virus remains unknown, scientists believe the most likely hypothesis is that it originated, like many coronaviruses, in bats before infecting other species, perhaps raccoon dogs, civet cats or bamboo rats. Is broadcasted. In turn, the infection spread to humans who handled or butchered those animals at a market in Wuhan, where the first human case was reported in late November 2019.

However, some official investigations have raised questions about whether the virus originated from a lab in Wuhan. A Department of Energy report two years earlier had concluded that a leak from the laboratory was most likely, although that report also expressed less confidence in the conclusion.

That same year, then-FBI Director Christopher Wray said his agency believed the virus “likely” spread after escaping from a laboratory.

Ratcliffe, who served as director of national intelligence during Trump’s first term, has said he also favors the lab leak scenario.

Ratcliffe said in 2023, “Lab leaks are the only theory supported by science, intelligence, and common sense.”

The CIA said it would continue to evaluate any new information that might change its assessment.