Controversy is brewing over allegations that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) raided the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) under Tulsi Gabbard and seized classified documents related to the assassination of John F. Kennedy (JFK) and MKUltra.

The incident began when CIA whistleblower James Erdman III claimed at a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing on Wednesday the 13th that "the CIA forcibly took approximately 40 boxes of documents related to the JFK assassination and MKUltra mind control, which were being processed for public release, from the ODNI."

At the time, the DNI, under Director Gabbard's direction, was processing classified documents related to the JFK assassination and the MKUltra project for full public disclosure. Erdman revealed that the CIA forcibly collected dozens of boxes during this process.

In fact, the original purpose of this Senate hearing was not to discuss the JFK or MKUltra, but to address the origins of COVID-19 and allegations of government cover-ups.

Erdman testified that "high-ranking officials in the U.S. intelligence community systematically ignored and covered up strong evidence that the COVID-19 virus leaked from a Chinese laboratory," and that Dr. Anthony Fauci played a role in this.

A CIA spokesperson immediately criticized the situation on social media, stating that "the committee is staging a political show by summoning an informant who has already provided closed-door testimony to a public hearing without notice." The spokesperson issued a statement questioning Erdman's credibility by highlighting his past leadership of the movement against the federal government's COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

However, media and public attention shifted from the COVID-19 issue to the retrieval of the classified documents.

Representative Anna Paulina Luna (Republican, Florida) mentioned that "the CIA went into the ODNI warehouse in the middle of the night and removed documents," which led to speculation about an inter-agency conflict (even using the term "congressional coup").

As the controversy grew, Luna stated that it was "not a physical raid, but rather a forced retrieval or transfer of documents." However, she, along with Representative Eric Burlison (Republican, Missouri), made headlines by making a protest visit to CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, to strongly demand a transparent disclosure of the documents' whereabouts and the declassification process.

ODNI spokesperson Olivia Coleman denied on social media that "the CIA raided the Director of National Intelligence's office," fully refuting media reports and allegations. However, an investigation is ongoing into the essential circumstances of how intelligence agencies retrieved the documents in violation of declassification guidelines.

Under the 'JFK Records Collection Act' enacted in 1992, the U.S. government has been releasing millions of pages of assassination-related records through the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

While over 99% of the documents have been released to the public during the Joe Biden administration, a very small portion of core sensitive documents and redacted sections remained unreleased due to requests from intelligence agencies and reasons such as national security and protection of sources.

This controversy has spread under the frame that the CIA intervened when Director Gabbard attempted to forcibly release these "last remaining secrets" to the public.

MKUltra documents refer to the illegal human experimentation and mind control program spearheaded by the CIA from the 1950s to the early 1970s. These documents were extensively exposed to the world through congressional hearings (such as the Church Committee) in the 1970s.

It is known that this project involved illegal brainwashing experiments on civilians during the Cold War, including research on controlling hallucinating individuals using LSD. While initially treated as a conspiracy theory, it was revealed to be true following an investigative report by The New York Times in 1974.

Most official records were lost because then-CIA Director Richard Helms ordered the destruction of related records in 1973. However, some financial and administrative documents that evaded destruction were later discovered and released.

This allegation has fueled speculation that "undisclosed core files" that intelligence agencies were still hiding, among the documents thought to have been destroyed, were stored in the DNI's office.

The matter has garnered even more public attention as conspiracy theories suggest a potential connection to recent alleged assassination attempts on Trump, especially as this occurred after President Trump departed the country for a visit to China.

On Thursday the 14th, a congressional investigation team warned that if the CIA does not comply with the request to return the documents, they will issue a formal subpoena to the CIA and commence a forced investigation.

The investigation team warned that they will issue a formal subpoena to the CIA and commence a forced investigation.

Furthermore, it has been reported that the plan is to identify the responsible individuals within the CIA who acted unilaterally without the approval of Congress and the ODNI, defying the president's declassification directives, and to hold them legally accountable.

The CIA is currently taking the position that the nature of the documents needs to be re-evaluated due to coordination with the White House and intelligence agencies, leading to a standoff with the congressional investigation team demanding unconditional return of the documents.

Mainstream media outlets are framing this incident as a clear demonstration of conflict between the political sphere and intelligence agencies. However, there is also a discernible sentiment within conservative circles to interpret it as a confrontation between the Trump administration and the "deep state."

By Sung Ku Hong, Chief Editor, NNP USA / Special Dispatch NNP info@newsandpost.com