Summarised by Centrist
After years of claiming insufficient evidence, CIA analysts, citing a “body of reporting”, have shifted their position, now favouring the lab leak theory as the likely origin of the COVID pandemic.
While the agency maintains “low confidence” in this assessment, it reflects a growing scepticism of China’s transparency.
John Ratcliffe, the newly appointed CIA director, has long championed the lab leak hypothesis, calling it a critical issue for US-China relations. The FBI and Department of Energy previously backed it, though their theories differ on which Wuhan lab may be responsible.
Speaking to Breitbart, Ratcliffe argued that the agency needs to “get off the sidelines” and pursue this line of inquiry aggressively.
Ratcliffe’s decision to declassify and release the updated analysis has critics questioning whether the shift is politically motivated, given the lack of new intelligence supporting the theory. However, it has also been alleged that politics may have delayed a more definitive stance on the virus’s origins.
Intelligence officials acknowledge that neither the lab leak nor the natural origins theory can be conclusively proven without key evidence, such as identifying the animal host or finding a progenitor virus linked to the outbreak. Even China’s senior leadership may lack the answers.
