WASHINGTON (AP) — Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s general counsel warned an attorney for an anonymous government employee on Monday not to share top-secret complaints directly with members of Congress about Gabbard’s handling of classified material.
The letter to attorney Andrew Bakaj is the latest escalation in a recurring complaint that accuses Gabbard of withholding top-secret material for political reasons.
Two inspectors general from the intelligence community reviewed the claim and found that the specific allegations did not appear to be credible. Gabbard has denied any wrongdoing and said she made every effort to ensure the report reached Congress.
Democrats on the House and Senate intelligence committees blasted the handling of the complaint by Gabbard’s office, questioning why it took eight months to send the complaint to select members of Congress as required by law.
Here is information about complaints and next steps:
What is known about the complaint
The anonymous author of the complaint works for a U.S. intelligence agency and filed a report in May claiming Gabbard was withholding classified information for political reasons. Gabbard oversees the coordination of 18 intelligence agencies.
The complaint makes two allegations: The first is that “restricting the distribution of highly classified intelligence reports for political purposes,” while the second alleges that Gabbard’s general counsel failed to report potential criminal conduct to the Justice Department, according to a memo sent to lawmakers by current Inspector General Christopher Fox.
In June, Foxx said in a memo to lawmakers that then-Inspector General Tamara Johnson found that Gabbard distributed classified information along political lines did not appear to be credible. Johnson “was unable to assess the apparent credibility of the allegations against the General Counsel’s Office,” Fox wrote.
The watchdog said he did not consider the complaint urgent, meaning it would never be referred to lawmakers.
“If I were faced with the same or similar matter today, I would likely determine that the charges do not meet the statutory definition of ‘urgent concern,'” Fox wrote.
The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and other news outlets reported that the complaint stemmed from calls between two foreigners that mentioned people close to President Donald Trump and were intercepted by the National Security Agency. News reports, citing anonymous sources, said the discussion involved Iran and Gabbard personally notified the White House, while the complaint accuses her of preventing the NSA from reporting the interaction to other agencies. The Associated Press could not immediately confirm the reports.
The NSA declined to provide details about the complaint on Monday and said in a statement that it works closely with the FBI and other agencies to investigate instances of mishandling or leakage of classified information.
Gabbard’s office warns lawyers
Bakaj, a former CIA official and an attorney for the complainants, offered to meet with certain lawmakers or their staffs to discuss the allegations and his concerns about Gabbard’s review.
The general counsel for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence warned of this in a Monday letter, noting that Bakaj or his clients could face criminal charges if they improperly disclose classified material during a briefing.
“The highly confidential nature of a potential complaint increases the risk that you or your client may inadvertently or violate the law by disclosing or mishandling confidential information,” the Office of General Counsel wrote. “You may have other ways to appear before Congress, but not this one.”
Bakalj did not immediately respond to questions about the letter Monday.
Under federal law, intelligence whistleblowers have the right to request that their complaints be directed to key lawmakers, even if the inspector general deems them not credible, as long as they deem the charges urgent. The decision was made by the original regulator, but lawmakers didn’t receive the complaint until last week.
Copies of the top-secret complaint began being delivered last week to the Gang of Eight, a group made up of bipartisan leaders in the House and Senate and the four top lawmakers on the House and Senate intelligence committees.
Additional meetings with the remaining members are tentatively scheduled for Wednesday.
Democrats denounce Republican support for Gabbard’s delay
Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he would press Gabbard to provide more answers about the underlying complaints and why it took so long to get the report to lawmakers.
He said the number of revisions made it difficult to assess the charges.
“The fact that this has been going on for six, seven, eight months and we’re just seeing it now is, in itself, a huge concern,” Warner said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
Republicans who lead the Intelligence Committee have sided with Gabbard, making it unlikely that the committee will take further steps to investigate the complaint.
“This appears to be an attempt by the president’s critics to undermine his power,” Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, wrote on the X on Saturday.
Intelligence chief responds to criticism
In a lengthy post on social media on Saturday, Gabbard noted that Johnson was appointed interim inspector general of the intelligence community during President Joe Biden’s administration.
She provided a detailed timeline that she said showed she acted quickly to ensure complaints reached Congress. Gabbard wrote that she learned about the complaint in June and thought the investigation was closed after it was found not credible, only for the inspector general’s office to inform her in December that the complaint must be reviewed, redacted and sent to members of Congress.
“I took immediate action to provide security guidance to the Intelligence Community Inspector General, who then shared the complaint and cited the intelligence with the relevant members of Congress last week,” Gabbard wrote.
She also accused Warner and the media of trying to use the complaint to smear her reputation.
