Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Florida) alleged during a Fox News appearance with host Jesse Waters Wednesday that Central Intelligence Agency personnel had just removed dozens of boxes of documents related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the MKUltra program from the possession of Tulsi Gabbard, the director of National Intelligence (DNI).
The CIA falls under the direction of the DNI.
Knowing the questions to ask could take a minute, Filitti explained on American Family Radio. The story is still unfolding.
MKUltra was a covert, illegal human experimentation program run by the CIA from 1953 to 1973, aimed at developing techniques for mind control, behavior modification, and interrogation during the Cold War. The program was initiated out of fear that Soviet, Chinese, and North Korean forces were using brainwashing on U.S. prisoners of war.
The press secretary for the Director of National Intelligence, Olivia Coleman, explicitly denied the allegations, stating: “This is false — the CIA did not raid the DNI’s office.”
Some reports clarified that the alleged document removal occurred last year during a government shutdown, not on May 13, and involved files taken from the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), not Gabbard’s direct office.
The Erdman testimony
The blow-up came on the same day that James Erdman III, a 20-year CIA veteran and senior operations officer, testified before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, alleging a high-level cover-up of the lab-leak origin of COVID-19.
He claimed that CIA scientific analysts concluded multiple times between 2021 and 2023 that a lab leak was the most likely origin, but those findings were buried and never included in official intelligence reports or shared with Congress.
Erdman also alleged that the CIA illegally monitored the phones and computers of investigators in the Director’s Initiatives Group (DIG) and retaliated against whistleblowers, calling it a violation of constitutional rights.
JFK and MKUltra could be a distraction from what Filitti says is the real question — did the CIA work to cover up the origin of COVID-19?
"What we heard last night was about MKUltra, was about the JFK files. These are juicy things to talk about, but ultimately, they're so far in ancient history that the people who could be held accountable for things are long since dead. The CIA has been accused of far worse things in more recent times,” Filitti told show host Jenna Ellis.
Why would the CIA, allegedly, eavesdrop on a workgroup from the very office that oversees the agency, he wondered.
“We really need to see what might be going on in terms of these phone connections, phone taps or eavesdropping, and whether there is something more nefarious going on that the government apparatus is being used for. So, I think that is a legitimate inquiry, and those are the questions that we should be asking.”
President Donald Trump issued an executive order last March calling for the release of all remaining classified documents related to the assassinations of JFK, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King.
Some MKUltra-related documents were declassified in 2018, but no presidential directive under Trump targeted the full declassification of MKUltra records.
Erdman’s attorney, Carol Thompson, confirmed to reporters that her client was concerned about retaliation from the CIA, though she declined to provide further comment.
The CIA opposed Erdman’s public appearance, calling the hearing “political theater” and asserting that the committee acted in “bad faith” by subpoenaing him without prior notification, despite his prior closed-door testimony.
The conspiracy track is still available
Erdman also accused Dr. Anthony Fauci of influencing intelligence assessments, a claim that prompted GOP lawmakers to call for criminal prosecution.
Fauci received a presidential pardon from Joe Biden hours before Biden left the White House.
There are plenty of people around, if an ongoing conspiracy is proven, who do not have the golden free pass.
The statue of limitations may have expired on certain charges, but conspiracy would put things in a different light, Filitti said.
“A continued cover up is still a crime if it's happening in progress. So, I think that's what we need to look for, because that would give the Justice Department the best opportunity to pursue crimes,” he said.
