Questions Grow Around Tulsi Gabbard’s Intelligence Leadership
After an unusual FBI raid appearance and an eight-month delay on a highly classified whistleblower complaint, oversight concerns grow around Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
Photo: Elijah Nouvelage / Reuters
UPDATE: Saturday, February 7th, 2026
Today, the Guardian published an article with previously unreported details about the whistleblower’s complaint. According to the outlet, the NSA detected a phone call with foreign intelligence and a person closely associated with President Trump last Spring. That information was given to DNI Tulsi Gabbard, who took a paper copy of the complaint directly to the President’s Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles. After Tulsi met with Wiles, she instructed the NSA to transmit the complaint directly to her office rather than publish the report, including highly classified details.
The press secretary from the ODNI responded to the Guardian, in part, with this statement: “This story is false. Every single action taken by DNI Gabbard was fully within her legal and statutory authority, and these politically motivated attempts to manipulate highly classified information undermine the essential national security work being done by great Americans in the Intelligence Community every day…”
February 5th, 2026
Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), has been and remains a controversial figure since before her nomination.
She has been making headlines recently after taking part in an FBI raid of the Fulton County Election Commission in Georgia, despite there being no clear reason for the Director of National Intelligence to be present. During the raid, agents confiscated 700 boxes of 2020 ballots, raising additional concerns about both optics and intent.
Efforts to justify Gabbard’s attendance from the White House have been spent shifting blame between the President and Pam Bondi. To date, there is no clear reason why she was in Georgia; Bondi said she was there because she and Bondi are “inseparable”; Tulsi said she was there at the President’s request; and Trump said that she was there because Bondi requested it.
Making matters worse for Gabbard, The Wall Street Journal reported this week that a U.S. intelligence official filed a whistleblower complaint alleging wrongdoing by Gabbard. The complaint is reportedly so highly classified that it has not only triggered months of internal disputes over whether and how it can be shared with Congress, but it’s also been locked in a safe for the past 8 months. The complaint said, in part:
“A U.S. intelligence official has alleged wrongdoing by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard in a whistleblower complaint that is so highly classified it has sparked months of wrangling over how to share it with Congress, according to U.S. officials and others familiar with the matter.
The filing of the complaint has prompted a continuing, behind-the-scenes struggle about how to assess and handle it, with the whistleblower’s lawyer accusing Gabbard of stonewalling the complaint. Gabbard’s office rejects that characterization, contending it is navigating a unique set of circumstances and working to resolve the issue.”
How Did We Get Here?
May 2025: A member of the US Intelligence Community submitted a report alleging that a highly classified intelligence report was intentionally restricted for political reasons. The whistleblower also claims that an agency lawyer failed to notify the DOJ of a potential crime, despite a legal duty to do so.
June 2025: The Whistleblower asks that the report be shared with Congress.
October 2025: Christopher Fox is confirmed as the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community. His role is to serve as the senior watchdog overseeing intelligence agencies and whistleblower complaints. Fox was “told by ODNI’s general counsel that “complexity in the classification” of the complaint had contributed to the delay.”
This Week: Yesterday, Andrew P. Bakaj, Chief Legal Counsel for the US Intelligence Whistleblower Aid, issued a letter to Director Gabbard, accusing her of intentionally obstructing congressional oversight. Because the report is so highly classified that it’s been locked in a safe for the last eight months, Bakaj tells Gabbard he will contact the Senate Select Committee on Monday, February 4th, 2026, as a result of her failure to offer a viable path forward with Congress. Bakaj notes that he holds a TOP SECRET security clearance.
Letter from Bakaj
The Gang of 8 has since received a copy of the complaint. CNN reports that Rep. Jim Himes said that “after seeing the complaint that he had “ongoing concerns about both the contents and the delay in it being reported to Congress. I will continue to pursue this matter to ensure that proper oversight is conducted.”
The Gang of 8
House of Representatives
• Mike Johnson (R-LA): Speaker of the House
• Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY): Minority Leader
• Rick Crawford (R-AR): Chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
• Jim Himes (D-CT): Ranking Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
Senate
• John Thune (R-SD): Majority Leader
• Chuck Schumer (D-NY): Minority Leader
• Tom Cotton (R-AR): Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
• Mark Warner (D-VA): Vice Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence