Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has come under fire over an explosive whistleblower complaint and allegations that she is protecting the Trump family — and that she even planted a mole to obstruct the investigation, according to an analyst Thursday.
Salon's Jesselyn Radack described multiple problems and conflicts of interest that have surfaced around Gabbard's alleged mismanagement of the complaint, which are tied to claims that President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner influenced the president over Iran. The complaint itself was apparently "locked in a safe," according to a Wall Street Journal report last month.
"We don’t know the substance of the intelligence report underlying the whistleblower complaint, but the government claims it is 'exquisitely' classified, which raises an immediate problem: That’s not a real classification level," Radack wrote. "The report apparently involves an intelligence service intercepting a conversation between two foreign nationals about Iran and Jared Kushner’s influence on his father-in-law, the president. At the time, the Trump administration was considering a strike on Iran, which in fact occurred at the end of June 2025."
Gabbard reportedly delayed investigating the complaint amid "ongoing rumors concerning the state of her relationship with Trump, which has appeared to be in constant flux," Radack explained.
"Instead of providing guidance, Gabbard — the former champion of whistleblowers — apparently sat on the complaint for eight months and stonewalled the whistleblower and their lawyer," Radack wrote.
She also reportedly made potentially "sinister" moves, "rather than innocent, bureaucratic snafus."
"And worse, during this delay, she reportedly planted a mole in the ICIG’s office to snitch about the situation directly to her — obviously compromising the office’s independence," Radack wrote.
Gabbard has appeared to be acting as a protector of the Trump family — instead of focusing on national intelligence concerns.
"We don’t know why Gabbard continues to aggressively obstruct this whistleblower complaint," Radack added. "It sounds like she’s more concerned with protecting Jared Kushner, and perhaps Trump himself, than the public she’s supposed to serve. But we do know this: The ICWPA system for intelligence community whistleblowers depends on the knowledge, trust, credibility and good faith of the director of national intelligence. It’s a fatal flaw to make that person an intermediary, much less a gatekeeper, on a whistleblower’s path to congressional oversight."
