A whistleblower has claimed that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) allegedly offered financial incentives to analysts in order to suppress their findings regarding the possible lab leak origins of COVID in Wuhan, China.
CIA under fire for offering incentives to influence COVID origins lab leak theory, says whistleblower to U.S. House Select Subcommittee
According to a senior-level CIA officer who testified before House committee leaders, the agency allegedly tried to persuade six analysts to alter their stance on the origin of SARS-CoV-2. The whistleblower alleges that the CIA attempted to pay these analysts to switch their position from suggesting that the virus likely originated in a Wuhan lab to support the theory that it had crossed over from animals to humans. A letter outlining these allegations was sent to CIA Director William Burns on Tuesday.
🚨BREAKING🚨
New testimony from a highly credible whistleblower alleges @CIA rewarded six analysts with significant financial incentives to change their COVID-19 origins conclusion from a lab-leak to zoonosis. pic.twitter.com/KIemfi2Wgl
— Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic (@COVIDSelect) September 12, 2023
Chairmen Brad Wenstrup of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic (R-Ohio) and Mike Turner of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (R-Ohio) have asked the CIA’s COVID Discovery Team to provide all documents, communications, and payment details by September 26th.
The House panel chairmen stated: “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 whistleblower further contends that to come to the eventual public determination of uncertainty, the other six members were given a significant monetary incentive to change their position,” they said, mentioning that the analysts were “experienced officers with significant scientific expertise.”
Calls for transparency and interviews in ongoing CIA COVID probe
Wenstrup and Turner have also requested records and exchanges between the CIA and various other federal agencies, such as the State Department, FBI, Department of Health and Human Services, and the Energy Department.
In another letter, the leaders of the House committee pointed out that Andrew Makridis, a former CIA chief operating officer, was prominently involved in the COVID investigation. They have invited him to participate in a recorded interview.
As of now, there has been no immediate response from the CIA or Makridis regarding this request.
It’s worth noting that the FBI was the initial U.S. intelligence agency to suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic probably started from a lab leak. Additionally, in February, the Energy Department arrived at a similar conclusion, citing new intelligence as the basis for their assessment.
