James Erdman the Third, a former intelligence officer and military veteran, testified before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs alleging that intelligence leaders downplayed the laboratory leak theory regarding the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. He claimed this effort amounted to a cover up and warned lawmakers that both legislative and executive branch officials risk being misled without greater transparency and accountability.

Erdman previously served as a non commissioned officer in the Army's Second Battalion, Seventy Fifth Ranger Regiment and later in the National Guard before joining the Central Intelligence Agency in 2013. He also worked in the private sector as a senior bioinformatics and biometrics consultant and completed assignments in the Middle East, South and East Asia, and Europe.

He later co founded Feds For Freedom, a grassroots advocacy group that opposed federal vaccine mandates for government employees and members of the military. The organization supported multiple legal challenges against several federal agencies, arguing that vaccine requirements violated religious freedom protections.

During his testimony, Erdman called for a sweeping review of federally funded life sciences research, including clearer definitions and stricter oversight of gain of function and weapons related research. He argued that public health policy decisions might have differed if the public had been fully informed about the possibility of a laboratory origin for the virus.