The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the US confirmed to ABC News it is "looking into" accusations that several members of an agency team tasked with COVID-19 pandemic analysis were paid off "significant" hush money in order to buy a shift in their position about where the virus came from -- but the agency emphasized it does not pay its analysts to reach particular conclusions, Ednews reports.

"At [the] CIA we are committed to the highest standards of analytic rigor, integrity and objectivity. We do not pay analysts to reach specific conclusions," CIA spokesperson Tammy Kupperman Thorp said in a statement to ABC News. "We take these allegations extremely seriously and are looking into them. We will keep our Congressional oversight committees appropriately informed."

“The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, President Biden and international health bodies have emphasized, unless Beijing stops stonewalling the investigation into COVID's origins, no more definitive conclusion will be possible,” ABC News said.