Aletho News

Intelligence Agency Investigating CIA Whistleblower Allegations, Official Confirms

By Michael Nevradakis, Ph.D. | The Defender |May 15, 2026

An official with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) today told The Defender that the Intelligence Community Inspector General is aware of allegations by a CIA whistleblower that the agency obstructed a task force investigation into the origins of COVID-19 and is investigating them, along with ODNI and other agencies.

In written testimony provided to the U.S. Senate this week, James E. Erdman III told a Senate committee that the CIA obstructed the work of the CIA’s Director’s Initiatives Group (DIG), an agency task force investigating the origins of COVID-19, and retaliated against those in the group who believed the virus may have leaked from a lab.

Erdman worked for the DIG between March 2025 and April 2026. The group, created by Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard, was ordered to start winding down in January and has since been dissolved.

Soon after the group started to wind down, “the CIA retaliated” against members who supported the lab-leak hypothesis, Erdman wrote.

Erdman, one of the earliest members of the DIG, said he was hired due to his “many years of experience at the CIA and my knowledge on the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

But during his year with DIG, “the CIA obstructed lawful oversight related to the DIG’s work and retaliated against the DIG with what I believe were illegal investigations into DIG members.”

Intelligence officials ‘spent years covering up the truth’

According to Erdman’s testimony, he believes ODNI, the National Intelligence Council (NIC) and CIA personnel “have spent years covering up the truth” about the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The CIA did not comply with lawful oversight requests during the DIG’s investigation,” Erdman wrote.

Erdman’s written statement adds to the oral testimony he delivered before the Senate on Wednesday, as part of Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-Ky.) ongoing investigation into the origins of COVID-19. Erdman told the Senate that “Dr. Fauci’s role in the cover-up was intentional” and that the CIA targeted whistleblowers supporting the lab-leak theory.

In an interview with The Defender on Thursday, Erdman’s attorney, Carol Thompson, said her client is now “concerned that the CIA will use bureaucratic processes and alleged secrecy requirements to undermine his testimony and obfuscate the truth.”

In a letter to CIA Director John Ratcliffe on Thursday, Sens. Paul and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) forwarded a copy of Erdman’s written testimony — and warned the agency not to take any action against Erdman.

“We expect no retaliatory action of any kind to be taken against Mr. Erdman in connection with his appearance before the Committee,” the letter states.

An individual with knowledge of the situation told The Defender that ODNI previously received a complaint alleging that the CIA was spying on DIG members.

Stephanie Weidle, executive director of Feds for Freedom, a group Erdman co-founded that advocates for government transparency and informed consent, called Erdman “a hero.” She told The Defender his testimony shows that “checks and balances are broken.”

“The CIA is undermining Congress and their boss, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard,” Weidle said. “The CIA spies on innocent American citizens, including those tasked with rooting out corruption. They have not yet been held accountable.”

“The agency under investigation killed the investigation,” said Sayer Ji, chairman of the Global Wellness Forum and founder of GreenMedInfo. “The question this raises is who is actually running the U.S., the elected president and his DNI, or a permanent intelligence bureaucracy that has now demonstrated, on the record, that it can dissolve its own oversight.”

The CIA did not respond to The Defender’s request for comment by press time.

‘Dissolution of the DIG has halted critical transparency work’

According to the ODNI, the DIG was formally established in April 2025 and tasked with “restoring transparency and accountability to the Intelligence Community.”

Its mission included reviewing documents for potential declassification — “including information related to COVID-19 origins.”

The CIA hasn’t publicly listed DIG members. However, The Washington Post reported in July 2025 that senior national intelligence officer Paul McNamara, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and Marine officer, oversaw DIG’s efforts.

According to the Post, some intelligence officials were “privately concerned” that DIG “could be used to pursue perceived disloyalty to the Trump administration, including to identify individuals who implemented the policies of the previous administration.”

According to Erdman’s testimony, in October 2025, investigative journalist Steve Baker contacted ODNI “with information allegedly related to the identity of the January 6 pipe bomber.”

DIG “could not and did not attempt to corroborate Baker’s allegations,” but consulted with senior ODNI leadership to share this information with appropriate agencies that could investigate the matter.

That revelation led to a series of events and “drama” that “helped spark a pause in the DIG’s work in December 2025, and its ultimate dissolution in January 2026,” Erdman alleged in his testimony.

“The dissolution of the DIG has halted critical transparency work,” Erdman wrote.

CIA fired contractor involved with DIG’s COVID origins probe

But even before then, the CIA was obstructing the DIG’s work, Erdman alleged — including its investigation into COVID-19’s origins.

“The CIA illegally monitored the computer and phone usage of DIG personnel … their investigations, and contact with whistleblowers,” Erdman wrote.

A CIA contractor involved with the DIG’s COVID-19 origins investigation “was fired one day after meeting with the DIG.”

Erdman alleged the investigation also faced obstructions from within ODNI:

“In my time at the DIG, my team reviewed internal communications that led me to believe that ODNI [and] NIC, under then DNI Avril Haines, did not conduct a serious review or declassification effort for these documents.

“I also reviewed thousands of pages of material that I believe were responsive to the law, but that the Intelligence Community ignored.”

Once DIG was shut down, its investigative work into COVID-19’s origins was transferred to the NIC, Erdman wrote.

Former pharmaceutical research and development executive Sasha Latypova told The Defender that COVID-19 has long been a “classified global military operation.”

“It is not surprising to me that the CIA is ‘not happy’ with Erdman’s testimony. It is likely that they are not happy with the fact that the testimony may pull on the thread that will lead in the direction of the intelligence and defense agencies’ role in the internationally coordinated Project COVID-19,” Latypova said.

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This article was originally published by The Defender — Children’s Health Defense’s News & Views Website under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Please consider subscribing to The Defender or donating to Children’s Health Defense.

May 15, 2026 - Posted by aletho | Deception, War Crimes | CIA, Covid-19, United States