Committee chairman US Senator Rand Paul, Republican from Kentucky, listens as James Erdman III, senior operations officer at the CIA, testifies during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on May 13, 2026. Erdman testified that he believes there was an effort within the Intelligence Community to downplay the possibility that the COVID-19 pandemic originated in a "lab leak." (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images)

James Erdman III, senior operations officer at the CIA, testifies during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on May 13, 2026. Erdman testified that he believes there was an effort within the Intelligence Community to downplay the possibility that the COVID-19 pandemic originated in a "lab leak." (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images)

James Erdman III, senior operations officer at the CIA, testifies during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on May 13, 2026. Erdman testified that he believes there was an effort within the Intelligence Community to downplay the possibility that the COVID-19 pandemic originated in a "lab leak." (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images)

James Erdman III, senior operations officer at the CIA, testifies during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on May 13, 2026. Erdman testified that he believes there was an effort within the Intelligence Community to downplay the possibility that the COVID-19 pandemic originated in a "lab leak." (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images)

James Erdman III, senior operations officer at the CIA, testifies during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on May 13, 2026. Erdman testified that he believes there was an effort within the Intelligence Community to downplay the possibility that the COVID-19 pandemic originated in a "lab leak." (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images)

James Erdman III, senior operations officer at the CIA, testifies during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on May 13, 2026. Erdman testified that he believes there was an effort within the Intelligence Community to downplay the possibility that the COVID-19 pandemic originated in a "lab leak." (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images)

James Erdman III, senior operations officer at the CIA, testifies during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on May 13, 2026. Erdman testified that he believes there was an effort within the Intelligence Community to downplay the possibility that the COVID-19 pandemic originated in a "lab leak." (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images)

James Erdman III, senior operations officer at the CIA, testifies during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on May 13, 2026. Erdman testified that he believes there was an effort within the Intelligence Community to downplay the possibility that the COVID-19 pandemic originated in a "lab leak." (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images)