CIA Shifted COVID-19 Origin Assessment to Neutral Over Five Days in 2021

A senior CIA officer told lawmakers in May that agency analysts initially concluded COVID-19 likely originated in a high-level laboratory in Wuhan, China. Over five days in 2021 the assessment shifted to neutral, according to a document released by the outgoing director of national intelligence.

During a September 2024 private briefing, an unnamed CIA employee told Rep. Brad Wenstrup that the shift followed an input received the day before the team was ready to publish. The employee stated the input caused officials to back off the laboratory conclusion.

A declassified assessment covering information through August 2021 stated that only one agency, not the CIA, favored a laboratory origin. An updated assessment released in mid-2023 said the CIA could not determine the origin because both laboratory and natural-origin theories relied on significant assumptions.

The CIA stated in 2025 that a laboratory origin was more likely. The Trump administration maintains that COVID-19 originated in the laboratory in China. A 2023 whistleblower told Congress that the CIA team analyzing origins favored a laboratory conclusion but changed its position after payment.

The CIA denied paying analysts to reach specific conclusions. The senior CIA officer also told a Senate panel that the team investigating agency handling of the pandemic found the shift occurred after Dr. Anthony Fauci briefed intelligence officials on June 4, 2021.

Fauci suggested officials review specific papers and contact certain scientists whose names were redacted. One readout of the briefing stated that Fauci reminded officials that even for SARS it took 12 years to link the virus to a bat. Fauci has said he did not discuss viral research related to COVID-19 with intelligence officials during that period.