A feud has erupted between a Washington Post reporter and the nation’s top intelligence and security official after Tulsi Gabbard, director of National Intelligence, accused Washington Post senior reporter Ellen Nakashima of harassing her staff, an accusation that critics called into doubt.
“Instead of reaching out to my press office, she is calling high level intelligence officers from a burner phone, refusing to identify herself, lying about the fact that she works for the Washington Post, and then demanding they share sensitive information,” Gabbard said Thursday in a social media post on X.
“Apparently, publishing leaked classified material wasn't enough for the Washington Post, so now they’ve decided to go after the Intelligence professionals charged to protect it.”
Gabbard, who provided no evidence for her claim, also accused Nakashima of having “harassed and stalked” her family in Hawaii, another claim that she provided no evidence for, and was also rebuked by one of her former Washington Post colleagues, David Weigel.
“Not credible that Ellen, who's been at the paper since Bill Clinton's first term, would call sources ‘lying about the fact that she works for the Washington Post,’" Weigel said Thursday in a post on X. “Gabbard provides no proof here.”
As the Washington Post’s national security reporter, Nakashima has authored a number of stories on Gabbard, including a recent piece over Gabbard’s allegedly illegal interference in the Intelligence Community Inspector General’s office, potentially fueling Gabbard’s accusations.
Gabbard went on to characterize Nakashima’s reporting as an effort to sabotage President Donald Trump’s agenda, and called for the Washington Post to “put an end to this immediately.”
“This kind of deranged behavior reflects a media establishment so desperate to sabotage (Trump’s) successful agenda that they’ve abandoned even a facade of journalistic integrity and ethics,” Gabbard continued. “The Washington Post should be ashamed, and they should put an end to this immediately.”