The CIA Politicizes Intelligence on China and Covid: A whistleblower says that analysts who favored the lab-leak theory were paid to change positions; GOP Senators Demand Answers On CIA Whistleblower Allegations of COVID-19 Origins, and other C-Virus related stories
WSJ: The CIA Politicizes Intelligence on China and Covid
A whistleblower says that analysts who favored the lab-leak theory were paid to change positions.
A Central Intelligence Agency whistleblower claims that the CIA rigged a report on the origins of Covid-19 to exonerate China. According to the allegation, the most senior member of a seven-member CIA analysis team “was the lone officer to believe COVID-19 originated through zoonosis.” His six colleagues thought the intelligence and science “were sufficient to make a low confidence assessment” that the disease came from a lab leak.
“The whistleblower further contends that to come to the eventual public determination of uncertainty, the other six members were given a significant monetary incentive to change their positions,” according to a Sept. 12 letter from two House committee chairmen.
If these claims are true, they are consistent with what we observed during our time in the office that oversees the U.S. intelligence community: a dangerous trend inside the CIA to politicize intelligence on China, and to suppress dissenting views that stray from the company line. When preparing the President’s Daily Brief, it wasn’t unusual to ask why the CIA’s China assessments seemed at odds with intelligence from the other 17 U.S. spy agencies.
Sometimes there were good reasons. But there were also times when the culture within the CIA discouraged dissent and subordinated the truth to other considerations. When we pushed to declassify intelligence exposing some of what the U.S. government knew about the virus’s origins and the Communist Party’s initial coverup, we faced constant opposition, particularly from Langley.
Even in the chaotic early days of the pandemic, every shred of intelligence pointed to the likelihood of a lab leak. Other agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, have reached that conclusion. Yet the CIA continues to avoid such an acknowledgment—which would have enormous geopolitical implications that the Biden administration doesn’t want to face head-on.
A similar pattern was evident regarding attempts to interfere in U.S. elections. In 2020, the intelligence community was tracking a plan by China to hurt President Trump’s prospects for re-election. That August the network-analysis firm Graphika reported on social-media activity from what it called “Spamouflage Dragon” and described as a “pro-Chinese political spam network.” It was posting English-language videos that “attacked” Mr. Trump and his policies. Although Graphika didn’t have evidence these operations were led by the Chinese government, the U.S. intelligence community did. —>READ MORE HERE
GOP senators demand answers on CIA whistleblower allegations of COVID-19 origins:
Sen Rand Paul says CIA whistleblower allegations showcase ‘one of the biggest cover-ups’ in US history
GOP lawmakers sent a letter this week to CIA Director William Burns after a whistleblower claimed that analysts probing COVID-19 origins were offered money to alter their stance that the virus likely came from a Wuhan lab leak.
Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., joined their House counterparts in demanding answers from Burns, such as all of the “documents and communications between or among the members of all iterations of the COVID Discovery Team(s) regarding the origins of COVID-19.”
Paul told Fox News Digital in a statement Thursday, “This is one of the biggest cover-ups in our nation’s history, and we deserve answers.”
“Department of Energy scientists concluded COVID-19 came from a lab,” Paul wrote. “FBI scientists concluded COVID-19 came from a lab. We’ve been told six of seven CIA scientists also concluded COVID-19 came from a lab but were paid to change their minds.”
In Tuesday’s letter, the senators wrote that the whistleblower allegations “are deeply concerning and raise serious questions about the Agency’s investigation into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
They also demanded to know all “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.”
The request seeks documents and communications related to the origins of COVID-19 among members of the COVID Discovery Teams as well as exchanges with employees or contractors of various federal agencies, including the State Department, FBI, the Department of Health and Human Services (including NIH and NIAID) and the Department of Energy. —>READ MORE HERE
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