The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has revised its position on the origins of Covid-19, now asserting with “low confidence” that a lab-related origin is more likely than natural transmission from animals. This shift follows John Ratcliffe’s confirmation as CIA director during Donald Trump’s second White House administration.
Ratcliffe, previously the director of national intelligence (DNI) from 2020 to 2021, emphasized that investigating Covid-19’s origins would be a top priority for the CIA under his leadership. In an interview with Breitbart, Ratcliffe stated, “The agency is going to get off the sidelines,” reflecting his belief in the lab-leak theory, specifically linked to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
CIA’s Updated Assessment
On Saturday, a CIA spokesperson confirmed the agency’s updated stance, which leans toward a research-related origin. “CIA assesses with low confidence that a research-related origin of the COVID-19 pandemic is more likely than a natural origin based on the available body of reporting,” the statement read.
This marks a departure from the agency’s earlier neutral position, as it previously refrained from determining whether the virus originated from a laboratory incident or natural animal-to-human spillover.
Intelligence Community Divided
The intelligence community in the United States remains divided on the matter. While agencies such as the FBI and the Department of Energy have expressed support for the lab-leak theory, they do so with varying degrees of confidence. Conversely, most other agencies continue to favor the natural origin hypothesis.
The CIA’s updated view stems from a new analysis of existing intelligence conducted under former CIA director William Burns. This analysis, completed before Ratcliffe assumed office, re-examined available evidence, leading to the agency’s revised assessment.
Proponents of the lab-leak theory argue that the earliest Covid-19 cases were reported in Wuhan, China—a city home to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a major center for coronavirus research. The institute is located roughly 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) from bat populations known to carry SARS-like viruses, raising suspicions of a potential laboratory accident.
Continued Debate Over Covid-19 Origins
Despite the CIA’s revised stance, the agency emphasized that both research-related and natural origins remain plausible scenarios. A CIA spokesperson noted, “CIA continues to assess that both research-related and natural origin scenarios of the COVID-19 pandemic remain plausible.”
The debate over the virus’s origins persists, with the intelligence community and scientific experts divided on the evidence. However, Ratcliffe’s leadership marks a renewed effort to prioritize the investigation into one of the most significant public health crises in modern history.