Senators Warn CIA Director Not to Retaliate Against Whistleblower

Senators are warning the CIA’s director not to take action against an operations officer who told the Senate on May 13 that CIA personnel believed COVID-19 came from a laboratory in China, but agency leaders changed those conclusions.
Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), the chairman and a member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, respectively, said in a letter to CIA Director John Ratcliffe on May 14 that “we expect no retaliatory action of any kind to be taken against [James Erdman III] in connection with his appearance before the Committee.”
Erdman, who is still employed by the CIA, appeared after being subpoenaed, the senators said….