CIA: Corona originated from a laboratory leak.
According to Russia Today, a CIA spokesperson claimed that, according to the organization’s research, the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic is more likely due to a laboratory leak than a natural origin.
The CIA spokesperson said in a statement that “based on the available evidence, the agency’s assessment indicates with low confidence that the Covid-19 pandemic was more likely to have a research origin than a natural origin.”
However, the agency added that both scenarios remain plausible and that the assessment’s conclusion may change with new data.
The updated CIA assessment was released after the confirmation of John Ratcliffe as director of the agency in the administration of new US President Donald Trump. Ratcliffe has always been a supporter of the laboratory leak scenario, calling it “the only theory that science, intelligence, and common sense support.”
The Washington Post, citing sources, reported that the CIA assessment was completed before Ratcliffe was sworn in but was made public after he took office.
The heated debate over the origin of the coronavirus, which has led to a global pandemic and killed more than seven million people, has always been at the center of American political debate. One of the main theories is that Covid-19 had a natural origin and was transmitted to humans from animals. Another theory claims that the virus accidentally leaked from a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the pandemic began. The Chinese government has consistently rejected the lab leak theory.