A CIA whistleblower testified publicly for the first time Wednesday before the Senate Homeland Security Committee, accusing Dr. Anthony Fauci of improperly influencing intelligence reviews into the origins of COVID-19 and helping shape a narrative that downplayed the possibility of a laboratory leak in China.
James Erdman III, a special operations officer who has worked at the CIA since 2013, appeared under subpoena despite opposition from the agency. During the hearing, Erdman described what he called a broad effort inside the intelligence community to steer conclusions away from evidence supporting the lab leak theory.
“Dr. Fauci’s role in the cover-up was intentional,” Erdman testified, alleging that the former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director inserted “a conflicted list of curated subject matter experts, public health officials and scientists” into intelligence discussions surrounding the pandemic’s origins.
According to Erdman, several of those scientists later participated in a February 2020 teleconference that led to the publication of “The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2,” a scientific paper that argued against the lab leak theory and supported a natural spillover explanation. Critics have since questioned the paper’s objectivity and the circumstances surrounding its creation.
Erdman claimed intelligence managers repeatedly favored the theory of zoonotic transmission despite objections from technical experts. He said the CIA and Office of the Director of National Intelligence made decisions “inconsistent with the conclusions of subject matter experts and analytical tradecraft.”
The officer testified that Fauci involved himself directly in intelligence deliberations on at least two occasions — Feb. 3, 2020, and June 4, 2021 — in ways that promoted what Erdman described as a natural origins “narrative.”
He also recounted a 2021 internal exchange in which concerns from a senior analyst about Fauci’s participation in the review process were brushed aside. Erdman said Fauci was allowed to operate as a “subject matter expert” despite previously claiming publicly that he was not an expert on coronaviruses.
Erdman addressed reports that CIA analysts were bribed to support uncertain or politically convenient findings. While denying outright bribery, he said agency leadership changed the final analytical conclusions even though most technical experts favored the lab leak explanation.
“Six of the seven technical experts say, ‘Yep, we still think it’s a lab leak,’” Erdman testified. “And they were sticking to their guns. Management changed the analytic line.”
A 2023 CIA assessment ultimately concluded that the origins of COVID-19 may never be known with certainty. Erdman criticized the wording used in that report, particularly the phrase “We may never precisely know the origin of SARS-CoV-2.”
“‘Precisely’ is not a term analysts use,” he told senators. “They use words like ‘low confidence,’ ‘medium confidence.’ ‘Precisely’ is a word you use when you want to deliberately end discussion.”
Although analysts involved in the review reportedly received Exceptional Performance Awards worth around $1,500 each, Erdman insisted those payments were not tied directly to the report’s conclusions.
Beyond the origins debate, Erdman accused the intelligence community of withholding roughly 2,000 pages of classified COVID-related material despite a 2023 law requiring disclosure. He also alleged that the CIA illegally monitored phones and computers used by members of the Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s Director’s Initiatives Group and other whistleblowers involved in the review.
“These were Americans being spied upon illegally while executing duties directed by the president and under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence,” Erdman said.
Sen. Rand Paul praised Erdman for coming forward “at great personal risk,” arguing that “the truth was being buried.” Sen. Ron Johnson later demanded an apology from CIA Director John Ratcliffe after the agency issued a statement criticizing the hearing.
CIA spokeswoman Liz Lyons dismissed the proceeding as “political theater,” arguing the committee acted in bad faith by subpoenaing Erdman after obtaining prior closed-door testimony. She also noted that the CIA itself has already assessed that a lab leak is the most likely explanation for the pandemic.
“This proceeding amounts to nothing more than dishonest political theater masquerading as a congressional hearing,” Lyons said in a statement released during the hearing.
