New CIA assessment claims COVID-19 virus 'probably' came from Chinese laboratory

The CIA now believes the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic most likely originated from a laboratory, according to an assessment released on Saturday. It points the finger at China despite acknowledging that the spy agency has “low confidence” in its own conclusion.

The finding is not the result of any new intelligence, and the report was completed at the behest of the Biden administration and former CIA Director William Burns. It was declassified and released on Saturday on the orders of President Donald Trump's pick to lead the agency, John Ratcliffe, who was sworn in on Thursday.

The nuanced finding suggests the agency believes the totality of evidence makes a lab origin more likely than a natural origin. But the agency's assessment assigns a low degree of confidence to this conclusion, suggesting the evidence is deficient, inconclusive or contradictory.