'It was intentional': CIA whistleblower accuses Anthony Fauci of covering up COVID's origin

James Erdman III, a whistleblower for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), exposed in the Senate a possible federal cover-up over the origins of COVID-19. Erdman is a former intelligence officer who participated in a hearing before the Upper House Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Erdman joined the CIA in 2013 and served as an intelligence officer. According to his testimony, Anthony Fauci, then director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), improperly "influenced" intelligence analysis on the origins of the pandemic.

The whistleblower told the Senate that within the intelligence community many analysts considered a lab leak likely, but that that conclusion was downplayed and even buried. He took specific aim at Fauci, whom he placed in the middle of the alleged operation to rule out the hypothesis that the virus had accidentally escaped from a lab.

"Public health policy would have been very different had the American public been made aware that a virus from a lab in China was going to serve as the foundation for an emergency use authorization mRNA products being mandated by the former administration. Doctor Fauci's role in the cover up was intentional," testified Erdman, who testified under oath.

"Doctor Fauci influenced the analytical process and findings by leveraging his position to ensure the IC consulted with a conflicted list of curated subject matter experts, public health health officials, and scientists," he added.

"This is a cover-up. And it cost lives"

Wednesday's hearing came as a deadline is looming for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to bring charges against Fauci for allegedly lying to Congress at a hearing on the gain-of-function investigation in May 2021. Rand Paul, chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, has repeatedly clashed with Fauci over his role during the pandemic.

The Republican has argued that the pandemic may have originated after the accidental leakage of a virus studied in a Wuhan lab. In addition, he has pointed out that Fauci, in his role as NIAID director, may have approved and funded risky research related to the origin of the virus in China.

Fauci has repeatedly denied funding prohibited gain-of-function research or manipulating analyses on the origin of the virus.

"Let me be clear about what we know. Taxpayer dollars funded risky gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Fauci denied it under oath. The evidence says otherwise," Paul expressed on his X account after the hearing.

"Federal records were deleted. Investigations were obstructed. Emails show a deliberate campaign to silence scientists who questioned the narrative. This is not incompetence. This is a cover-up. And it cost lives," the Kentucky senator added.

Furthermore, the senator questioned the legitimacy of the presidential pardon that Joe Biden granted Fauci before leaving office. Therefore, he asserted that the DOJ should impeach Fauci to fully investigate the case.