Among the problems facing Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is that she isn’t just facing one controversy. Rather, she’s facing multiple overlapping controversies simultaneously.
At the top of the list is the fact that Gabbard, whose record has been plagued by problems, needlessly participated in an FBI raid on an Atlanta-area elections office as agents pursued one of Donald Trump’s absurd conspiracy theories, even though the DNI is prohibited by law from taking part in domestic law enforcement. Relatedly, the fact that Gabbard’s team also seized voting machines in Puerto Rico made matters a bit worse.
But hanging overhead is the DNI’s whistleblower controversy.
A report in The Wall Street Journal last week got the ball rolling, noting that an unnamed U.S. intelligence official accused Gabbard of wrongdoing in a highly sensitive whistleblower complaint that was supposed to be shared with Congress. Despite the fact that the complaint was filed in May, and the DNI was legally required to share it with specific members within 21 days, it wasn’t until last week that key lawmakers finally gained access to the allegations, roughly eight months after they were first levied.
The disclosure seemed like a modest step in the right direction, though members quickly learned that the materials were significantly redacted, giving them a limited view.
Over the weekend, however, some of the bigger picture started coming into focus — at least a little. The New York Times...
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