Brownstone Supper Club, West Hartford, October 21, 2026: Jim Erdman

West Hartford, CT, October 21: James Erdman III, CIA whistleblower 

On Wednesday, October 21, 2026, the beloved West Hartford Supper Club – the first in the nation – is pleased to welcome James E. Erdman, retired CIA senior operations officer,  Army Ranger veteran, and co-founder of Feds For Freedom who became publicly known in 2026 as a whistleblower on COVID-19 origins assessments.

Jim is one of the bravest and most outstanding men of our time. He only recently retired from the CIA following his Senate testimony that called out Anthony Fauci among others for suppressing the likely origins of Covid. 

Butterfly is the venue (the real Chinese stuff) with friends of the Brownstone Institute. Come early for cocktails and meet Brownstone Institute friends, scholars, writers, and benefactors, and celebrate victories and discuss challenges ahead. The food is wonderful and the discussion brilliant. Casual and fun, even if some people come in fancier clothing.

In 2025–2026, Erdman completed a joint-duty assignment at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s Director’s Initiatives Group (DIG), where he led reviews of COVID origins, anomalous health incidents (Havana Syndrome), and unidentified anomalous phenomena. 

In May 2026 he testified under subpoena before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (chaired by Sen. Rand Paul). He alleged that intelligence-community leaders downplayed or suppressed CIA analysts’ lab-leak conclusions, retaliated against those who maintained that view, withheld records from investigators, and illegally monitored DIG personnel, their computers, phones, and contacts with whistleblowers. He described the net effect as a cover-up that misled policymakers.

Come to celebrate his courage, meet him and hear from him, and find new friends who are equally concerned about the future.