WASHINGTON — A CIA whistleblower publicly accused the agency Wednesday of swiping critical files on President John F. Kennedy’s assassination and the notorious mind control experiment MKUltra that were being reviewed by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s team.

Special operations officer James Erdman III laid out the stunning accusations during a Senate committee hearing on the origins of COVID-19, drawing subpoena threats against the CIA from several lawmakers.

“When the DIG [Director’s Initiatives Group] ceased operations, the CIA also took back 40 boxes of JFK files and MKUltra files being processed for declassification by DNI Gabbard,” Erdman testified.

Gabbard established the DIG last year to probe alleged weaponization of the intelligence community and increase public transparency. She ended the program this past February after just 10 months.

Erdman also charged that the CIA “illegally monitored the computer and phone usage of DIG personnel, their investigations, and contact with whistleblowers.”

The CIA forcefully rebuked Erdman’s testimony and the Senate committee for staging “dishonest political theater masquerading as a congressional hearing.”

Fired up by Erdman’s claims, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) posted on X Wednesday afternoon: “The CIA has 24 hours to return the documents to Tulsi Gabbard’s office or else I will make a motion to issue a subpoena. These documents have been requested by Congress.”

Luna was promptly backed up by Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), and even Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) expressed interest in the ordeal.

Later, Luna clarified that the CIA did not “raid” Gabbard’s office, but simply took documents “ODNI has jurisdiction over.”

The CIA and Office of the Director of National Intelligence did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

President Trump signed an executive order shortly after taking office ordering the declassification of all files related to the 35th president’s assassination on Nov. 22, 1963. Since then, the federal government has released more than 80,000 pages of material, containing little new information about the killing.

Clarification: Took documents that ODNI has jurisdiction over. Also, this did not happen today & was not a “raid” however it did take place and we are just being made aware of it based on reporting etc. https://t.co/erYzUWDZVQ

— Anna Paulina Luna (@realannapaulina) May 14, 2026

Project MKUltra was a notorious CIA program that ran from 1953 through 1973 in which the spy agency investigated ways to manipulate human behavior through drugs and psychological warfare.

The program was exposed in 1975 by the Senate’s Church Committee, which detailed experimentation on both unwitting and cognizant human subjects.

However, by that time, the CIA had already destroyed thousands of MKUltra files, making a full investigation impossible.

Luna announced plans to hold a hearing on MKUltra Wednesday, but later announced it would be rescheduled for a later date.

The congresswoman and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) previously wrote to CIA Director John Ratcliffe, demanding that documents on the JFK assassination and MKUltra be preserved.