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WASHINGTON (AP) — A complaint made about Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard months ago relates to an allegation that she withheld access to classified information for political reasons, according to a memo sent to lawmakers by the inspector general’s office and obtained by The Associated Press.
That allegation in the complaint filed in May appeared to not be credible, according to the former watchdog for the intelligence community that initially reviewed it. It has become a flashpoint for Gabbard’s critics, who accuse her of withholding information from members of Congress tasked with providing oversight of the intelligence services.
Copies of the top-secret complaint are being hand-delivered this week to the “Gang of Eight” lawmakers — a group comprised of the House and Senate leaders from both parties as well as the top Democrats and Republicans on the House and Senate intelligence committees.
Gabbard’s office has denied the allegations and disputed that it withheld the complaint, saying the delay in getting it to lawmakers was due to an extensive legal review necessitated by the complaint’s many classified details, as well as last year’s government shutdown.
Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia told reporters that he had not seen the complaint as of Tuesday but that he expected to see it within a couple days, following what he called a protracted effort by lawmakers from both parties to pressure Gabbard to send the report as required by law.
“It took the Gang of Eight six months of negotiation with the director of national intelligence to share that whistleblower complaint,” Warner said. “This is in direct contradiction to what Gabbard testified during her confirmation hearings — that she would protect whistleblowers and share the information of timely matter.”
The author of the complaint, in a second allegation, accused Gabbard’s office of general counsel of failing to report a potential crime to the Department of Justice. The IG’s memo, which contains redactions, does not offer further details of either allegation.
In June, then-inspector general Tamara Johnson found that the claim Gabbard distributed classified information along political lines did not appear to be credible, according to the current watchdog, Christopher Fox, in the memo to lawmakers. Johnson was “unable to assess the apparent credibility” of the accusation about the general counsel’s office, Fox wrote.
Federal law allows whistleblowers in the intelligence services to refer their complaints to the Gang of Eight lawmakers even if they have been found non-credible, as long as their complaint is determined to raise urgent concerns.
In his memo, Fox wrote that he would have deemed the complaint non-urgent, meaning it never would have been referred to lawmakers.
“If the same or similar matter came before me today, I would likely determine that the allegations do not meet the statutory definition of “’urgent concern,’” Fox wrote.
Andrew Bakaj, attorney for the person who made the complaint, said Monday that while he cannot discuss the details of the report, there is no justification for keeping it from Congress since last spring.
The referral of the complaint to lawmakers isn’t simple because it contains classified details that necessitate it being hand-delivered, resulting in a process that is likely to take a few days.
The inspector general’s office confirmed that some lawmakers and their staff were allowed to read copies of the complaint on Monday. Representatives for the inspector general plan to meet with the remaining lawmakers who had not seen it on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the office said.
Gabbard coordinates the work of the nation’s 18 intelligence agencies. She has recently drawn attention for another matter — appearing on site last week when the FBI served a search warrant on election offices in Georgia that are central to Trump’s disproven claims about fraud in the 2020 election.
That unusual role for a spy chief raised additional questions from Democrats on the House and Senate intelligence committees.
Gabbard said Trump asked her to be present at the search. She defended her role in a letter to lawmakers, arguing that she regularly works with the FBI and is authorized to investigate any threat to election security.
Warner said Tuesday that he doesn’t accept Gabbard’s explanation and that her actions are eroding longstanding barriers separating intelligence work from domestic law enforcement. He said he wants Gabbard to address his questions before the Senate Intelligence Committee soon.
“The director of national intelligence does not conduct criminal investigations,” Warner said. “She has no role in executing search warrants. And she does not belong on the scene of a domestic FBI search.”
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