A group of Republican senators is seeking information on a recent whistleblower’s claim that the CIA paid off analysts who determined COVID likely originated from a lab leak to change their conclusion.
Senators Rand Paul, Rick Scott, Ron Johnson and Lindsey Graham sent the letter to the Director of the CIA, William Burns.
The senior-level CIA Officer’s allegation came to light in a letter from the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
According to the letter, the CIA tasked seven officers with the necessary expertise to a COVID Discovery Team. After the review, six of the seven individuals believed the intelligence and science were sufficient to make a low-confidence assessment that COVID originated from a lab in Wuhan.
According to the letter, six members were given significant monetary incentives to change their position, which led to the CIA’s public determination of uncertainty on the origins of COVID.
“These allegations are deeply concerning and raise serious questions about the Agency’s investigation into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the senators wrote. “For this reason, we request you provide our offices with the following information no later than September 25, 2023.”
The senators requested the following information in response to their letter:
- All documents and communications regarding the establishment of all iterations of the COVID Discovery Team(s);
- All documents and communications between or among the members of all iterations of the COVID Discovery Team(s) regarding the origins of COVID-19;
- All documents and communications between or among members of all iterations of the COVID Discovery Team(s) and other employees or contractors of the Agency regarding the origins of COVID-19;
- All documents and communications between or among members of all iterations of the COVID Discovery Team(s) and employees or contractors of other federal government agencies, including but not limited to the U.S. Department of State, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (to include the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases), and the U.S. Department of Energy regarding the origins of COVID-19; and
- All documents and communications regarding the pay history, to include the awarding of any type of financial or performance-based incentive/financial bonus to members of all iterations of the COVID Discovery Team(s).
The full text of this letter is available HERE.
