Whistleblower complaint against Tulsi Gabbard could do 'grave damage to national security'

A whistleblower complaint filed in May 2025 accuses Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard of wrongdoing and implicates at least one additional federal agency.

The document is classified at the highest level and remains physically locked in a safe within the Intelligence Community Inspector General’s office, with officials stating disclosure could cause "grave damage to national security."

More than eight months later, the complaint has not been transmitted to congressional intelligence committees.

Attorney Andrew Bakaj, representing the whistleblower, stated in a November 2025 letter that Gabbard’s office has failed to provide mandatory security guidance for secure delivery to lawmakers, blocking the process.

Standard procedure requires the inspector general to evaluate credibility within 14 days and, if credible, forward the complaint to Congress within seven additional days.

No transmission has occurred.

The complaint also invokes potential executive privilege claims, pointing to possible White House involvement. Congressional intelligence committee members learned of the complaint only in November 2025 via Bakaj’s letter.

Democratic staffers have since attempted to obtain details without success. Bakaj himself has not been cleared to read the full classified document. Gabbard’s spokeswoman confirmed the complaint targets Gabbard but called it “baseless and politically motivated.”

She asserted Gabbard’s office had provided guidance to “support the eventual transmission of appropriate details to Congress” and responded to the inspector general’s written questions.

An Intelligence Community Inspector General representative noted that certain complaints require “exceptionally sensitive materials necessitating special handling and storage requirements,” confirming this case is kept under such restrictions.

Bakaj previously represented the CIA officer whose 2019 complaint led to Trump’s first impeachment.

Separately, Gabbard appeared in person at an FBI search of a Fulton County, Georgia, election center office on January 28, 2026.

Senator Jon Ossoff questioned whether Gabbard was operating “far outside of [her] lane.”