A recent controversy has erupted in Washington following the National Security Agency (NSA)'s detection last spring of an unusual phone call between an individual linked to foreign intelligence and a person close to Donald Trump. According to Andrew Bakaj, an attorney for a whistleblower briefed on the call, the highly sensitive communication became a point of contention when it was brought to the attention of the director of national intelligence (DNI), Tulsi Gabbard.

Instead of allowing NSA officials to disseminate the intelligence further, DNI Gabbard allegedly took a paper copy directly to the president’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles. Subsequently, Gabbard instructed the NSA not to publish the intelligence report, but rather to transmit the classified details directly to her office. These specific details of the exchange between Gabbard and the NSA, and Wiles' receipt of the report, have not been previously reported.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) strongly refuted these claims, stating, "This story is false. Every single action taken by DNI Gabbard was fully within her legal and statutory authority, and these politically motivated attempts to manipulate highly classified information undermine the essential national security work being done by great Americans in the Intelligence Community every day." The ODNI also cited previous findings by both Biden-era and Trump-appointed Intelligence Community Inspector Generals, which reportedly found the allegations against DNI Gabbard baseless.

On April 17, a whistleblower contacted the Inspector General's office, alleging that Gabbard had blocked the routine dispatch of highly classified intelligence. A formal complaint was filed on May 21. For eight months, the intelligence report remained under wraps, despite the whistleblower's efforts to disclose details to congressional intelligence committees. Acting Inspector General Tamara A Johnson dismissed the complaint on June 6 after a 14-day review, stating that "the Inspector General could not determine if the allegations appear credible." Johnson's letter advised the whistleblower to seek DNI guidance before approaching Congress, given the sensitivity of the matter.

Concerns about the independence of the watchdog’s office emerged after DNI Gabbard assigned one of her top advisers, Dennis Kirk, to work there on May 9, just two weeks after the whistleblower's initial contact with the inspector general. Kirk, who served in the first Trump administration and co-authored Project 2025, a policy roadmap for restructuring the federal government, raised questions among lawmakers about potential compromises to the IG's impartiality.

The ODNI issued its first public acknowledgment of the complaint in a letter to lawmakers, posted on its X account, which claimed the inspector general had not informed Gabbard of her obligations to transmit the complaint to Congress. Bakaj noted that the ODNI cited various reasons for the delay in intelligence sharing, including the complaint’s top secret classification, a government shutdown, and the intelligence community inspector general’s failure to notify Gabbard of her reporting requirements.

Legal experts and former intelligence professionals who reviewed the incident have identified what they believe are procedural anomalies, raising questions about Gabbard’s handling of national intelligence and the whistleblower disclosure, which was reported as an "urgent concern." Members of the "gang of eight" received a heavily redacted version of the report, leading to disagreements about the legality of Gabbard's conduct and the whistleblower's credibility. Republican lawmakers like Senator Tom Cotton defended Gabbard, while Democrats, including Senator Mark Warner, criticized the significant delay in transmitting the complaint to Congress, calling it an attempt to "bury the complaint."

The full contents of the whistleblower complaint remain largely unknown, as Gabbard’s office redacted much of the document released to intelligence committee members, citing executive privilege. Bakaj reiterated that by exercising executive privilege, the DNI's office indicated the complaint involved presidential action. On February 3, Bakaj again sought guidance from Gabbard’s office regarding the full disclosure of the whistleblower’s report to Congress, emphasizing its impact on national security. With no response by the deadline, Bakaj intends to contact Senate and House intelligence committees for an unclassified briefing.

Lawmakers have bypassed the ODNI and IG's office by directly requesting the underlying intelligence from the NSA, which the whistleblower alleges Gabbard blocked. Stephen F Lynch, the leading Democrat on the House oversight committee, wrote to acting Inspector General Johnson, warning that Kirk's May appointment could compromise the watchdog office's integrity. Johnson, who was replaced by Christopher Fox as intelligence community inspector general in October, did not respond to requests for comment regarding the story.