File photo taken on Feb. 15, 2017 shows Steve Bannon (1st R) at the White House in Washington D.C., the United States.. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

CNN said it spoke with six scientists and experts who found the China-bashing study's methodology to be "flawed," adding that the group described the study as "junk science," "leaps of logic" and "window dressing."

WASHINGTON, Oct. 22  -- CNN on Wednesday discredited a "shoddy" study paper claiming COVID-19 was engineered in a Chinese lab, finding the conspiracy theory to be linked to Steve Bannon, a proven far-right fringe extremist and long-time critic of China.

CNN said it spoke with six scientists and experts who found the China-bashing study's methodology to be "flawed," adding that the group described the study as "junk science," "leaps of logic" and "window dressing."