FBI Director Kash Patel, DNI Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee on March 18, 2026
A bombshell new report from investigative journalist Catherine Herridge reveals how the CIA has stonewalled Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and spied on her team’s efforts to investigate public scandals and government corruption.
(…) As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) fired off a preservation letter to the CIA, demanding that all existing and future records related to the taken items be preserved. A Director of National Intelligence spokeswoman later denied that a “raid” occurred as the claim circulated.
However, James Erdman never claimed that the CIA raided Gabbard’s office. Instead, during his opening statement before the Homeland Security Committee on May 13, Erdman, a career CIA Operations Officer, testified to several key points regarding the CIA’s ” refusal to comply with lawful oversight” and “documented efforts to circumvent oversight.”
He told the committee that the CIA not only refused to comply with the ODNI Director’s Initiatives Group (DIG) investigations into the COVID-19 origins, anomalous health incidents, and unidentified anomalous phenomena, but also retaliated against analysts who did not support their conclusions. “The CIA illegally monitored the computer and phone usage of DIG personnel, their investigations, and contact with whistleblowers,” which “significantly impacted Director Gabbard’s implementation of several EOs issued during this administration and tasked to the DIG,” he said.
Additionally, “when the DIGs ceased operations, the CIA also took back 40 boxes of JFK files and MKUltra files being processed for declassification by DNI Gabbard.”
WATCH:
Catherine Herridge highlighted part of Erdman’s testimony in a new report, including additional testimony from Erdman regarding Directed Energy attacks that have caused Anomalous Health Incidents, including Havana Syndrome, which are being investigated by the DIG team.
Based on my reporting, it was well known in national security circles that a CIA investigative unit had sent emails to several members of DNI Gabbard’s Director’s Initiatives Group — or DIG — demanding they come in for questioning.
While the CIA unit routinely conducts polygraphs and investigations, the timing of the request was concerning. It did not appear to be part of a standard security clearance review.
The alleged CIA monitoring of the Director’s Initiatives Group was described as tracking “every keystroke” on their government computers and devices. While there is no expectation of privacy on government computers and users often see a log-on warning, it did not appear to be routine counterintelligence work by the CIA.
In recent testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, chaired by Sen @RandPaul, CIA Senior Operations Officer and whistleblower James Erdman III alleged that the CIA illegally spied on the computers and phones of the Director’s Initiatives Group, along with their investigations and contacts with whistleblowers.
NOTE: The DIG investigated the JFK, RFK, and MLK assassinations, the origins of COVID-19, Crossfire Hurricane, the Biden Administration’s domestic surveillance, Anomalous Health Incidents (AHI), and Unidentified Aerial Phenomena.
Erdman provided detailed testimony about the the DIG’s investigations into Directed Energy attacks, also known as Havana Syndrome or Anomalous Health Incidents (AHIs):
“This was not the first time the CIA appears to have been monitoring DIG communications. Individuals involved in our AHI investigation discovered third parties were listening in on secure phone calls at Intelligence Community facilities. In one instance, it was during a conversation with a whistleblower.
These incidents were also reported in counterintelligence channels, and DNI IT experts confirmed that reproducing what occurred on the secure phone calls required an IT engineering work order. Someone had to request a technical change to the infrastructure.”
During its investigation of AHIs, my reporting reveals additional allegations that the CIA denied DNI Gabbard’s investigators access to key analysts and officials still working in the CIA building, as well as relevant, highly classified intelligence held in compartmented programs.
I also understand that requests to review internal CIA correspondence/communications regarding the Biden-era AHI intelligence assessments — including whether the intelligence was manipulated and the findings altered — were blocked.
The Biden-era Intelligence Community assessments concluded it was unlikely that a novel weapon or foreign adversary was responsible for the debilitating brain injuries suffered by spies, diplomats, military personnel, and some civilians — injuries that can lead to brain cell atrophy and death.
As I reported in February, a DIG report and findings into Directed Energy Attacks or AHIs (Anomalous Health Incidents) were finalized and prepped for release, but there was strong Intelligence Community resistance to revealing it.
The report is still not public and this week, @JudicialWatch sued the federal government for the records.
Based on my reporting, the DIG — DNI Gabbard’s task force into weaponization and politicization — found that the analytic tradecraft used by the Intelligence Community under the Biden administration was “defective.”
I also understand the DIG’s recommendations include the recall of the 2023 and 2024 Intelligence Community Assessments on AHIs.
DNI Gabbard committed to a new review of so-called Havana Syndrome after our 2025 independent investigation. Our reporting revealed that brain injuries suffered by U.S. spies, diplomats, military operatives, and civilians can cause progressive damage to the brain and nervous system.
In response to my new reporting and questions, an ODNI official said, “We have confirmed that the Intelligence Community Inspector General is aware of the allegations and is working, alongside ODNI and interagency partners, to uncover the truth about any potential wrongdoing.”A CIA official said the agency “has been and will continue to be supportive of any IG investigation into past conduct by CIA on this issue.”
The official disputed allegations that the agency had frustrated the investigation by DNI Gabbard’s team: “CIA worked to provide the DIG with access to information responsive to the Executive Orders prior to its disbandment by the DNI.”
On AHIs or Havana Syndrome, the CIA official said the CIA Director “…has been clear, including in sworn testimony before Congress, that CIA defers to ODNI leading an interagency analytic review of AHIs.”
Thank you for supporting independent journalism.
— Catherine Herridge (@C__Herridge) May 21, 2026
Senator Rand Paul, Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, shared the report, condemning the illegal spying and interference by the CIA, adding, “We’ve got to get to the bottom of what they’re hiding.”