CIA whistleblower James Erdman III testified at a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on an alleged cover-up of the federal assessment of the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. Erdman said that intelligence and Biden administration officials, including former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Dr. Anthony Fauci, "influenced" reports that concluded the virus originated in a Chinese laboratory. Republican committee members pressed Erdman for more details and criticized the Biden administration's handling of the pandemic. No Democratic senators attended this hearing.