Gabbard responds to 'propaganda media' claims on whistleblower complaint delay
WASHINGTON, DC: Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard forcefully pushed back on Saturday, February 7, denying allegations that she deliberately withheld a whistleblower complaint from Congress for 8 months.
In a detailed post on X, Gabbard dismissed claims by Senator Mark Warner and several media outlets as inaccurate, saying the Office of the Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG), not her office, maintained custody of the highly classified complaint. The document reportedly involves an intelligence intercept in which foreign nationals discussed an individual close to Donald Trump.
Security protocols governed document storage
Senator Mark Warner and his friends in the Propaganda Media have repeatedly lied to the American people that I or the ODNI “hid” a whistleblower complaint in a safe for eight months. This is a blatant lie.
— DNI Tulsi Gabbard (@DNIGabbard) February 7, 2026
The truth:
- I am not now, nor have I ever been, in possession or…
Gabbard said she was never in “possession or control” of the complaint while it was under review, explaining that because the whistleblower included classified material directly in the text, federal law required the Inspector General to secure the document in a protected facility.
According to Gabbard, such complaints must be stored in a secure safe until proper legal and security procedures are completed. She stated that she first viewed the complaint approximately two weeks ago, when asked to provide legal guidance necessary to transmit it securely to Congress.
“Security standards for complaints that include such sensitive intelligence required the Inspector General to keep the complaint… secured in a safe,” she wrote.
Watchdogs concluded the allegations were not credible
Gabbard released a timeline showing she became aware of a complaint against her in June 2025, noting that both then, Acting Inspector General Tamara Johnson and current Inspector General Christopher Fox reviewed the matter and found the core allegation “not credible.”
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) said the complaint initially qualified as an “urgent concern” if substantiated, but follow-up reviews determined the primary claim lacked merit. Fox, who assumed the role in October 2025, reportedly reached the same conclusion after an independent assessment.
Several Republican intelligence leaders, including Rep Rick Crawford and Sen Tom Cotton, also dismissed the complaint, with Cotton calling it “baseless.”
Timeline disputed by whistleblower aid
.@HouseIntel has received the letter from IC IG Fox on the alleged whistleblower complaint, and the Ranking Member and I, along with the appropriate staff, have had the opportunity to review the complaint. After doing so, I concur with the conclusion that the Biden-era IC IG,… https://t.co/Ni6blpz8zy
— Rep. Rick Crawford (@RepRickCrawford) February 3, 2026
The nonprofit group Whistleblower Aid, which represents the anonymous intelligence official, challenged Gabbard’s account and released a June 6, 2025, letter indicating the DNI’s office may have received the full complaint earlier than stated.
The group questioned why the matter was not addressed sooner and sought clarification on what actions, if any, were taken within the office between June and December. Andrew Bakaj, chief counsel for Whistleblower Aid, accused the DNI’s office of delaying the process and cited executive privilege concerns.
The organization previously warned it would brief Congress in unclassified form if security guidance was not provided by February 6, keeping the dispute active on Capitol Hill.
