Why Is a Whistleblower Complaint About Tulsi Gabbard Locked in a Safe???

Weird things are happening in the U.S. government right now, and on Monday, the Wall Street Journal published an unsettling report reminding us that we—and Congress—don’t even know the half of it.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has been accused of…something…by a whistleblower within her department, who filed a complaint to the intelligence community’s inspector general in May. In precedented times, these kinds of complaints are typically handled by Congress, and the onus of secure transmission falls on the DNI. But it’s been eight months, and Congress still hasn’t seen the complaint, which is allegedly so potentially explosive that it’s reportedly been locked in a safe.

The whistleblower’s lawyer, Andrew Bakaj, is accusing Gabbard of stalling the process. The WSJ notes that the inspector general’s office usually only takes a couple of weeks to look into claims before informing Congress. A rep told the WSJ that the inspector general determined the allegations against Gabbard herself weren’t credible, but couldn’t determine whether the other allegations were credible or not—but Bakaj said his office was never informed about any of those findings.

Gabbard’s office has claimed the complaint is “baseless and politically motivated,” while another official told the publication it could cause “grave damage to national security” if it were to be exposed. Which begs the question… what the fuck is in that complaint? The WSJ reports:

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.

A cloak-and-dagger mystery reminiscent of a John le Carré novel is swirling around the complaint, which is said to be locked in a safe. … It also implicates another federal agency beyond Gabbard’s, and raises potential claims of executive privilege that may involve the White House, officials said.

From what little we do know about the contents of the complaint, there’s an allegation involving another federal agency and potential claims of executive privilege tied to the White House—but we don’t really need a lock and vault to (not) know that. In November, Bakaj filed a complaint against Gabbard, saying: “From my experience, it is confounding for [Gabbard’s office] to take weeks—let alone eight months—to transmit a disclosure to Congress.”

On Monday, Gabbard’s Deputy Chief of Staff condemned the story, tweeting, “Here’s the truth: There was no wrongdoing by [Gabbard], a fact the WSJ conveniently buried 13 paragraphs down. Even the Biden-era [Intelligence Community Inspector General] came to this collusion the Whistleblower’s allegations against DNI Gabbard were not credible.” Gabbard spokesperson, Olivia Coleman—not to be confused with legendary actress Olivia Colman—chimed in, tweeting, “This is not true and is one of the most disgusting cases of clickbait I have ever seen.”

Now, Gabbard is a Russia-curious DNI who supports having a government surveillance authority in place; revoked security clearances from Obama-era intelligence officials to fulfill Trump’s revenge agenda; and, most recently, appeared at the FBI raid of an election center in Georgia. So, for her to be hiding something because it’s a national security risk? Again, I ask: what the fuck is in that complaint?

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