Published 17:53 IST, February 1st 2025
White House Praises CIA Director For Ordering Release of Agency Report on COVID-19
The White House Press Secretary on Friday praised CIA director John Ratcliffe for declassifying and releasing an assessment in which the agency said the COVID-19 pandemic most likely originated from a laboratory.
The White House Press Secretary on Friday praised CIA director John Ratcliffe for declassifying and releasing an assessment in which the agency said the COVID-19 pandemic most likely originated from a laboratory.
In a nuanced finding, the assessment suggests the agency believes the totality of evidence makes a lab origin more likely than a natural origin.
But it assigns a low degree of confidence to this conclusion, suggesting the evidence is deficient, inconclusive or contradictory.
The finding isn't the result of any new intelligence, and was based on fresh analyses of intelligence about the spread of the virus, its scientific properties and the work and conditions of China's virology labs.
Still, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the assessment was in line with President Donald Trump's views on the origins of the virus.
The report was completed at the behest of the Biden administration and former CIA Director William Burns, but was declassified and released on the orders of Ratcliffe, days as he was sworn in agency director.
Updated 17:53 IST, February 1st 2025