The CIA whistleblower James Erdman III says a lab leak was likely, he stands by his Senate testimony, and he urges investigators and reporters to follow financial trails uncovered in declassified files while alleging obstruction and even illegal monitoring of a DNI task force.

It has felt like years since James Erdman III stepped forward to describe what he and others at the agency saw about COVID origins. Erdman testified in May that his team concluded within a couple of years that a lab leak in Wuhan was the most likely source. He says Dr. Anthony Fauci pushed back hard against that line of inquiry as he tried to distance himself from gain-of-function research.

Former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard declassified tranches of files before leaving that, according to Erdman, exposed efforts to hide information from the public. Catherine Herridge interviewed Erdman about records that point to health officials with ties to Dr. Fauci and alleged financial conflicts tied to pandemic responses. Like other famous whistleblowers before him, notably ‘Deep Throat,’ Erdman repeated a blunt instruction to journalists: “follow the money.”

He also accused parts of the intelligence community of blocking investigations and even spying on the DNI task force that examined these issues, claiming the CIA disrupted inquiries ordered by the previous administration. Erdman argues that bureaucratic obstruction slowed or derailed discoveries that sources believed should be made public and investigated further.

https://x.com/C__Herridge/status/2081532991889641780

Erdman confirmed that the DNI Gabbard task force uncovered evidence of alleged financial misconduct and conflicts of interest involving health officials who consulted with the government over COVID-19 origins. 

Erdman said these health officials were connected to Dr. Fauci who was steering the US intelligence community away from the lab leak theory, largely because US taxpayer money had been used for funding through USAID and the National Institute of Health.

Erdman said the Senators should focus on Fauci, who led the NIAID for decades, and had to be aware of the potential conflicts of interest.

“If we’re talking about dangerous gain of function, which is exactly what we’re talking about, and Dr. Anthony Fauci knew that was dangerous gain of function, you’re going to want to take a look at the money. Follow the money. Where does that go? That is the first and most important step,” Erdman explained.

I pressed Erdman on the evidence of potential financial conflicts of interest involving Dr. Fauci and his associates

“I would say that that’s a sensitive matter that I can’t go into too much detail. I will say there are issues related to financial impropriety and health officials that are currently being reviewed.”

Asked if his team saw conduct that crossed the line into potential criminal activity, Erdman said: “Yes, I do believe there is evidence of financial impropriety that deserves additional attention. There does appear to be quite a few conflicts of interest that have been created by decades of this crossing of public health and biodefense. And Anthony Fauci, he had to know. He’s at the top of. He’s been in federal government service for 50 years and 40 of it, give or take, 40 of it, maybe 38 as NIAID director. And he knew who was getting what funds for what research.”

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Erdman who recently retired from the CIA as a senior manager and operations officer characterized the tension, what some call the turf war between the CIA and Office of the Director of National Intelligence that oversees ALL intelligence agencies as “bureaucratic guerrilla warfare.”

Asked if the CIA fully cooperated with DNI Gabbard’s investigations, Erdman was categorical.

“No, not at all. And here’s, in my opinion, this is how they operate. They’re the adult in the room. They say, “Hey, listen, we’ve got these concerns.” And they’ll bring up every bureaucratic reason why we need to slow roll and just double check everything, dot Is, cross T’s. Again, there’s good reasons to dot Is and cross T’s, but it’s bureaucratic guerrilla warfare. So that’s how it starts. Once they start into that, they’re looking for anything that goes wrong…”

Erdman stood by his Senate testimony and allegations that the CIA illegally monitored and spied on DNI Gabbard’s investigative team including the task force’s contact with whistleblowers. 

Erdman said the CIA disrupted investigations mandated by President Trump because, “There’s clearly some people who did not want the things that were being discovered released in the manner that they were being released.”

Dr. Anthony Fauci and Peter Daszak did not return emails seeking comment. The absence of public answers only sharpens calls from Republicans and some investigators for a more thorough financial review of pandemic-era grants and contracts tied to U.S. agencies.

Fauci is scheduled to appear before the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs at 8:30 a.m., where lawmakers plan to press him on funding ties and decision-making during the early pandemic. From a Republican perspective, that is exactly where accountability should happen: in open hearings that force transparency and clear records on who approved what and why.

There is a political and practical lesson here for reporters and investigators: the institution that resists scrutiny the loudest often has the most to hide. Erdman’s message is simple and blunt — chase the money, follow the paper trail, and demand answers from the people who had the power to shape the public narrative.