CIA offered analysts monetary incentives to change their position on Covid origins: Whistleblower

Washington

A whistleblower from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has alleged that the CIA offered six analysts significant monetary incentives to change their position on Covid origins. According to a statement from the Committee on Oversight and Accountability on Tuesday (September 12), the Staff on the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic and Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence heard testimony from the whistleblower, who presents as a highly credible senior-level CIA officer. 

"Staff on the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic and Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence have heard testimony from a whistleblower alleging that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) offered six analysts significant monetary incentives to change their position on COVID-19’s origin," the statement said.

As per the statement, the whistleblower alleged that of the seven members assigned to the CIA team tasked with analysing the virus' origins, six officers concluded that the virus likely originated from a lab in Wuhan, China. "The CIA, then however, allegedly offered financial incentives to six of the experts involved in the investigation to change their conclusion in favour of a zoonotic origin," the statement added. 

In a letter addressed to CIA's Director William Burns on Tuesday, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence's chairperson Mike Turner said these allegations were concerning.

Turner said that the allegations required the Coronavirus Pandemic (Select Subcommittee) and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) to conduct further oversight of how the CIA handled its internal investigation into the origins of Covid.

To assist the committees with the investigation, Turner requested Burns to provide the above committees with documents that include details about the establishment of all iterations of the Covid Discovery Team, the communications between or among the members of all iterations of the team regarding Covid's origin, and all documents and communications between or among members of all iterations of the team and other employees or contractors of the agency regarding the origin of the virus.

"Should the required information not be produced in an expeditious and satisfactory manner, you should expect the Committee, or Committees, to use its additional tools and authorities to satisfy our legislative and oversight requirements," the letter added. 

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