Overview
- Erdman, who appeared Wednesday under subpoena before the Senate Homeland Security panel, testified that CIA scientific analysts from 2021 to 2023 repeatedly judged a lab incident most likely yet their conclusions were watered down in official reporting.
- In sworn remarks, the 20-year CIA veteran said Dr. Anthony Fauci influenced the intelligence community’s process by steering officials to outside experts who favored a natural spillover, shaping the 2021 interagency report’s direction.
- The CIA condemned the public session as dishonest political theater and restated its public view that a research-related origin is more likely with low confidence, disputing suggestions that the agency resists that conclusion.
- Erdman alleged agency obstruction of oversight, including denial of documents, illegal monitoring of investigators and whistleblowers, and the firing of a cooperating contractor a day after an interview with the review team.
- Republicans highlighted Democrats’ boycott of the hearing and renewed calls for accountability, citing the recent indictment of Fauci adviser David Morens and ongoing fights over declassifying thousands of pages tied to the Wuhan lab and COVID origin analyses.