Whistleblower: CIA Sought to Change COVID-19 Origin Analysis

The Central Intelligence Agency offered six analysts money to change their position on COVID-19's origin after they originally stated that the virus likely originated from a lab in Wuhan, China, a whistleblower told the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic and Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, according to a Tuesday press release from the committees.

The whistleblower, who is a highly credible senior-level CIA officer, alleges that of the seven members assigned to the CIA team who were asked to analyze COVID-19 origins, six concluded that the virus likely came from a lab in Wuhan, but the CIA then offered them incentives to change their conclusion to say it was of zoonotic origin instead.

The Ohio Republican chairmen of the two committees, Rep. Brad Wenstrup and Rep. Mike Turner, are requesting that all documents and communications connected to the CIA's COVID-19 origins review be made available to them immediately.

These include, according to the New York Post, with such agencies as the State Department, the FBI, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Energy Department.

In addition, the chairmen requested that former CIA COO Andrew Makridis appear for a voluntary transcribed interview on Sept. 26.

Any improper influence by the CIA will be investigated to ensure accountability from the intelligence community, according to the press release.

"According to the whistleblower, at the end of its review, six of the seven members of the team believed the intelligence and science were sufficient to make a low confidence assessment that COVID-19 originated from a laboratory in Wuhan, China. The seventh member of the team, who also happened to be the most senior, was the lone officer to believe COVID-19 originated through zoonosis," the chairmen stated in the press release.

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