CIA Director Says New COVID-19 Assessment Restores Trust in US Intel Agencies

A CIA assessment said COVID-19 ‘more likely’ came from a Chinese lab.

Newly confirmed CIA Director John Ratcliffe and his wife, Michele Ratcliffe, listen as Vice President JD Vance speaks during a swearing-in ceremony at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House on Jan. 23, 2025. Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

CIA Director John Ratcliffe has said the recent decision to release a COVID-19 assessment was aimed at fostering transparency with the American people.

Ratcliffe, who was sworn in on Jan. 23 after Senate confirmation, told Fox News in a Jan. 26 interview that the assessment was completed under President Joe Biden’s administration. The CIA said in the assessment that a lab origin is “more likely” for the COVID-19 pandemic and that the agency came to such a conclusion with “low confidence.”