The Blubber

The CIA on Saturday released a new assessment on the origins of the Covid outbreak, stating that the virus is "more likely" to have leaked from a Chinese lab than to have originated from animals.

However, the agency emphasized that this conclusion was reached with "low confidence."

A CIA spokesperson said that based on the available intelligence, a "research-related origin" of the pandemic "is more likely than a natural origin."

The decision to publicly share this assessment marks one of the first major moves by the agency's new director, John Ratcliffe, who was appointed by Donald Trump and took over on Thursday.

Ratcliffe, who previously served as director of national intelligence during Trump’s first term, has long supported the lab leak theory, arguing that Covid most likely escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology—a facility located about 40 minutes from the Huanan wet market, where the first cluster of infections was reported.

In an interview with Breitbart News published Friday, Ratcliffe stated that he wanted the CIA to take a stronger position on the origins of Covid rather than maintaining a neutral stance.

"One of the things that I've talked about a lot is addressing the threat from China on multiple fronts, and that includes why a million Americans died and why the Central Intelligence Agency has been sitting on the sidelines for five years without making an assessment about the origins of Covid," he said.

"That's a day-one thing for me."

However, U.S. officials told media outlets that the new assessment was not based on any newly obtained intelligence and had actually been completed before Trump took office on Monday. The review was reportedly initiated in the final weeks of the Biden administration.

The assessment’s "low confidence" rating indicates that the intelligence behind it is limited, inconclusive, or contradictory.

There remains no clear consensus on the origins of the pandemic.

Some scientists and researchers continue to support the "natural origin" theory, which suggests the virus spread from animals to humans without any involvement from a lab.

The lab leak theory, meanwhile, has been highly contested within the scientific community, with many experts arguing that there is no definitive evidence to support it. China has previously dismissed the theory as "political manipulation" by Washington.

Despite the ongoing debate, the lab leak hypothesis has gained traction in some intelligence circles.

In 2023, FBI Director Christopher Wray told Fox News that the bureau assessed the "origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident."