CIA Whistleblower Claims Fauci’s Role in Alleged COVID Origin Cover-Up Was ‘Intentional’

A former Central Intelligence Agency agent on Wednesday told the Senate that Dr. Anthony Fauci’s role in an alleged cover-up about COVID-19 was “intentional,” accusing the former White House medical adviser of prompting the intelligence community to publicly support a natural origin claim for the pandemic instead of a lab leak.James Erdman III, a career CIA operations officer who recently served within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, provided explosive public testimony before the Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee. Mr. Erdman alleged that Dr. Fauci shaped the 2021 Intelligence Community Report by steering analysts toward subject matter experts biased against the Wuhan lab-leak theory.“Dr. Fauci’s role in the cover-up was intentional,” Mr. Erdman said. “Dr. Fauci influenced the analytical process and findings by leveraging his position to ensure the [intelligence community] consulted with a conflicted list of curated subject matter experts, public health, health officials, and scientists.”The CIA veteran further emphasized the consequences of the alleged suppression, saying, “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 of mRNA products.”The hearing, convened by Committee Chairman Rand Paul, centered on the government’s transparency regarding a virus that claimed more than 1 million American lives. The Kentucky Republican noted that Mr. Erdman came forward “at great personal risk” because “the truth was being buried.”Outlining the whistleblower’s credentials, Mr. Paul said: “He’s a decorated officer with decades of intelligence and national security experience. Before joining the CIA in 2013, he served with the Second Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment and as a Foreign Service Officer at the Department of State. He recently completed a joint duty assignment with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Director’s Initiatives Group.”While no Senate Democrats attended the hearing, Republican lawmakers heavily criticized Dr. Fauci during the proceedings. Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri argued that public trust in health officials has plummeted due to his actions.“It’s bad enough that he’s out there misleading the public behind the scenes,” Mr. Hawley said. “He’s trying to intervene to stop our own intelligence community, who are supposed to work for the public, from actually accurately assessing the evidence.”Dr. Fauci has repeatedly denied accusations of a cover-up. Meanwhile, the CIA strongly condemned the committee’s decision to subpoena an active officer who had already given closed-door testimony.“The Committee acted in bad faith by subpoenaing an Agency officer for testimony today without notifying CIA, despite having already obtained closed-door testimony from the individual previously,” CIA spokesman Liz Lyons said in a statement.“The witness testifying today is not appearing as a whistleblower in pursuit of the truth, but instead in response to the subpoena issued by Chairman Paul. This proceeding amounts to nothing more than dishonest political theater masquerading as a congressional hearing. As the CIA has already assessed, COVID-19 most likely originated from a lab leak, and efforts to undermine that conclusion are disingenuous,” she said.Mt. Paul dismissed the CIA’s complaint, saying, “I think transparency is good. We over-classify everything. … Now, almost every agency admits it did come from a lab, but they still haven’t been forthcoming. There’s no reason to have secrets on this.”Before the hearing, Mr. Paul made his stance clear on social media: “The DOJ may never act, but the American people know the truth: Fauci misled and defrauded this country. I won’t stop uncovering the truth around the great COVID cover-up. That’s why I will have a whistleblower testify before my committee this Wednesday.”Wednesday’s testimony follows the indictment last week of a former senior adviser to Dr. Fauci on allegations that he used a private email account to conceal government communications about COVID-19, including discussions tied to the virus’s origins and a controversial research grant linked to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.Federal prosecutors say David M. Morens, 78, who served in the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from 2006 through 2022, worked with others during the pandemic to move official discussions off government systems and out of public view. The Justice Department unsealed the indictment on Tuesday.Dr. Morens, of Chester, Maryland, is charged with conspiracy against the United States; destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in federal investigations; concealment, removal, or mutilation of records; and aiding and abetting, according to a Justice Department press release.“These allegations represent a profound abuse of trust at a time when the American people needed it most — during the height of a global pandemic,” said the acting attorney general, Todd Blanche. “As alleged in the indictment, Dr. Morens and his co-conspirators deliberately concealed information and falsified records in an effort to suppress alternative theories regarding the origins of COVID-19. Government officials have a solemn duty to provide honest, well-grounded facts and advice in service of the public interest — not to advance their own personal or ideological agendas.”According to the indictment, Dr. Morens and several others allegedly agreed to use his personal G-mail account to exchange non-public information after anticipating that their communications could be requested under the Freedom of Information Act. Prosecutors say the group used the private account to discuss efforts to influence funding decisions, circulate drafts of letters for NIH leadership, and share internal information that should have remained on official government systems.

CIA Whistleblower Claims Fauci’s Role in Alleged COVID Origin Cover-Up Was ‘Intentional’

CIA Whistleblower Claims Fauci’s Role in Alleged COVID Origin Cover-Up Was ‘Intentional’

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