On August 12, 2021, behind the scenes, the CIA was considering a public statement on the origins of the COVID-19 virus. The statement would have backed up Trump’s belief that this was likely a leak from a laboratory in China.
Within five days, that position changed, but there was never any reason given.
Five days… something happened that changed everything, and now it is all being exposed. Sadly, it is two days after the statute of limitations has expired on Fauci's May 11, 2021, testimony before Congress, so the only “accountability” we will ever see is what is exposed during these proceedings.
An alleged national cover-up regarding a global pandemic, and everyone gets to go home scot-free.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) brought in James Erdman III to discuss the alleged cover-up that took place during the pandemic, reported Fox News.
Erdman is a veteran who served in the 75th Ranger Regiment, one of the premier special operations units in our military. Point being, he is not a desk jockey but a highly-decorated operator who has worked in numerous theaters.
He is also a 20-year veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), whom Sen. Paul described as:
"He's a decorated officer with decades of intelligence and national security experience," adding that Erdman "recently completed a joint duty assignment with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Director's Initiatives Group (DIG)."
Erdman had private sector experience as well, having served as a senior bioinformatics and biometrics consultant, working in the Middle East, South and East Asia, and Europe.
Democrats have targeted Erdman as a bit of a wildcard, largely because he founded Feds for Freedom, which emerged during the pandemic to fight mandatory vaccines for federal workers and members of the military.
This organization was very much part of the fight, having backed numerous employee groups who were pushing back against being forced to take the vaccine during the Biden administration.
Democrats have and continue to try to make this about Erdman’s political views. That is irrelevant here, and nothing but white noise. The only thing that is relevant for the purposes of this case is whether he is telling the truth or not about the alleged buried intelligence.
That question actually answered itself because of the CIA’s current position on the origins of the virus, having stated that it was "most likely" a lab leak in China.
It is worth noting here that between 2020 and 2021, the term "lab leak" was actively suppressed by social media outlets as misinformation. No investigation, simply a directive given because Democrats believed it was not true.
There is a lot of information to digest here. Reading through it all would likely put you to sleep, so I have a table below that will make it far quicker and easier to digest:
| Date | What Happened | What the Public Was Told |
|---|---|---|
| Late 2019 | First COVID-19 cases appear in Wuhan, China — home of the Wuhan Institute of Virology | No public acknowledgment of the virus |
| February 1, 2020 | Fauci convenes call. Scientists privately raise lab leak concerns. | Scientists later co-author Proximal Origin paper dismissing lab leak. One author receives $9M grant from Fauci's agency after changing his position. |
| 2020 | Many within CIA assess lab leak as most likely origin (Erdman testimony) | "Natural origin" remains the official narrative. Lab leak called a "conspiracy theory." |
| 2020-2021 | Fauci has two instances of contact with CIA "inner agency." Provides "curated list" of experts who had already discredited lab leak. CIA "perfectly happy" to take his suggestions. | Fauci publicly dismisses lab leak "dozens of times" as conspiracy |
| 2020-2021 | Dr. Ralph Baric — who collaborated with Dr. Zhengli Shi in Wuhan on gain-of-function coronaviruses — serves on BSEG, advising intelligence agencies on COVID origins. Peter Daszak — who received hundreds of millions from the U.S. government and worked with Shi — is sent to China with the WHO to investigate. | Scientists presented to Congress and the public as independent experts. Conflicts never disclosed. |
| August 12, 2021 | CIA was considering publicly calling the virus a lab leak | — |
| August 17, 2021 | Five days later, position changed. CIA has refused to say why. | Public never told the agency was five days from a lab leak announcement. |
| 2022 | Internal CIA review: 10 people, 7 subject matter experts. 8 of 10 leaned toward lab leak. "They changed the conclusion." Erdman clarified analysts were not bribed — bonuses came later but were not tied to the report. Conclusion changed by leadership. | CIA maintains "low confidence" assessment. Congress not informed. |
| 2021-2023 | CIA analysts conclude lab leak "multiple times." Conclusions never shape official narrative. Congress never told. | Americans told to "trust the science." |
| 2023 | FBI and Energy Department publicly lean toward lab leak. Former DNI Ratcliffe testifies it is the only explanation supported by "intelligence, science, and common sense." | CIA and broader intelligence community still resist the conclusion. |
| Post-2024 Election | Biden administration directs CIA to issue lab leak assessment on the way out the door. Sen. Paul: "That is not analysis. That is a cleanup operation." | Assessment released after election. Nothing left to lose. |
| May 11, 2026 | Statute of limitations on Fauci perjury expires. DOJ never charged him. | — |
| May 13, 2026 | Erdman testifies publicly before Senate HSGAC. Zero Democrats attend. CIA calls hearing "political theater" while simultaneously confirming: "COVID-19 most likely originated from a lab leak." | Democrats boycott. CIA confirms the conclusion while attacking the hearing that exposed the cover-up. |
Sources: Senate HSGAC (Rand Paul opening statement), Washington Times, Mediaite, Fox News, The Intercept, Daily Caller, Erdman testimony (May 13, 2026). Timeline reconstructed from public testimony and reporting.
Sen. Paul never hid his contempt for Dr. Anthony Fauci, believing he knowingly led a cover-up during the pandemic. On Monday, May 11, 2026, the statute of limitations ran out to prosecute Fauci (the Biden preemptive pardon issued in January 2025 would have created additional legal hurdles). Paul posted to X:
"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."
Fauci meant far more to our government than researching infectious diseases, as he was regularly consulted on matters of national security and preparedness on related matters.
During the pandemic, Fauci was regularly read-in on "highly classified intelligence assessments" that were not to leave the White House complex.
We should also note that the intelligence community regularly hires these scientists as consultants to review their work, gives them access to grants, etc. This is a vicious cycle that relies on everyone scratching each other’s backs. It is not a reach to believe that someone decided the “lab theory” needed to be shut down; therefore, it was.
To that point, during his testimony, Erdman pointed the finger directly at Fauci, according to a report on The Times (London), stating:
"Dr. Fauci's role in the cover-up was intentional."
He claims Fauci provided our intelligence agencies with narratives that were to become talking points, and that the CIA was “perfectly happy” to take these suggestions.
On Dr. Fauci’s approach, Erdman stated:
"It's not like he's saying you will go talk to them. It's just that the bureaucracy in place at the time was perfectly happy to pursue those recommendations."
According to a Newsmax report, he further stated:
"Dr. 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 officials, and scientists."
This went well beyond the narrative here, but according to Erdman, this was a narrative that was also being pushed to several other countries, including Australia and the U.K.
In the "The Proximal Origin of SARS-CoV-2" paper, Erdman claimed, “They changed the conclusion.”
To the point above regarding grants, one of the authors of that paper received a nearly $9 million grant from Fauci’s agency AFTER he changed his opinion to move away from the lab leak theory, reported The Intercept.
According to CIA Director of Public Affairs Liz Lyons, the Senate committee was holding "dishonest political theater masquerading as a congressional hearing,” adding that the committee was acting in bad faith, reported the New York Post.
Then she more or less proved Sen. Paul and Erdman correct, stating:
"As the CIA has already assessed, COVID-19 most likely originated from a lab leak."
Read these words very carefully…
She was not objecting to the content of Erdman’s testimony, but only that it was made public. She clearly did not want the American people to hear it. She wanted to keep it all hidden.
Merriam-Webster defines cover-up as:
“A usually concerted effort to keep an illegal or unethical act or situation from being made public.”
Sen. Paul jumped all over her statement, noting that the CIA did not publicly back the lab-leak theory until after Joe Biden had lost the 2024 presidential election, adding:
"That is not analysis. That is a cleanup operation."
After hearing all the facts, how can anyone do anything but agree with him?
If I don’t agree with something and it is being publicly stated, you better believe I would want to be in that room, but Democrats chose to sit this one out. Every. Single. One. Of. Them.
They were not there to refute the evidence, but instead put on some political theater to continue to dismiss what we know as fact as a hoax.
As Sen. Paul’s office stated, “They don’t care to dismantle the deep state.” And I would add, because they are buried neck-deep in it.
Let me go back to my report on Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), who, when asked about Democrat rhetoric that could have contributed to the third assassination attempt against Trump, responded, “What rhetoric do you have in mind?” He acted as though he had never heard a negative word uttered by Democrats against Trump.
This is how Democrats operate. They firmly believe that if they deny and/or protest the facts long enough and loudly enough, they cease to exist.
Keep in mind, this alleged cover-up took place under a Democrat administration with a Democrat held House and Senate.
Their absence speaks louder than words. Perhaps they had no retort, which is why they chose absence instead. At least that way, they could camouflage their guilt in political theater.
More than 1.2 million Americans died from COVID-19.
Roughly nine months into the pandemic, the CIA allegedly had a bead on where the virus came from, yet the agency decided not to disclose it for what appears to be political reasons.
That reason, of course, was that it was a Trump theory that had already been dismissed as complete and utter nonsense by Democrats.
The original conclusion was changed. Americans continued to die. And it was not until Biden was on his way out the door, with nothing to lose and having issued blanket pardons to the key players, that the true conclusion was released to the American people.
When the time came to air the truth, which was two days after anyone could be held legally liable, instead of representing their constituents and their former president, Democrats chose to boycott, leaving nothing but empty chairs in their place.
