Washington — A whistleblower complaint containing allegations related to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard includes highly-classified details about a National Security Agency intercept of a call between two foreign nationals who discussed a person close to President Trump, a senior U.S. intelligence official and an attorney for the whistleblower confirmed to CBS News.
Last week, intelligence community Inspector General Christopher Fox shared the highly classified whistleblower complaint, which was filed in May, with top congressional leaders. The move came shortly after a report in The Wall Street Journal about the complaint’s existence, following months of delay that has prompted questions about whether political considerations held up action and sidestepped oversight of a complaint involving the nation’s top intelligence official. Fox said the delay was due to a number of factors, including classification complexities, the 43-day government shutdown beginning in October and Senate confirmations at ODNI.
In the complaint, which contains information so sensitive it has been held in a safe, an intelligence community employee alleged that a highly classified intelligence report was restricted for political purposes, according to a letter sent by Fox to congressional leadership, and that an intelligence agency’s legal office failed to report a potential crime to the Justice Department for political purposes.
Analysts could not determine whether the conversation in the call between two foreign nationals was gossip or deliberate misinformation, according to the intelligence official. Information about the intercept was shared by Gabbard with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles.
Andrew Bakaj, the whistleblower’s attorney, said his client alleges Gabbard bypassed normal National Security Agency distribution by delivering a paper copy to Wiles and directing the agency to route classified details only to herself rather than in a more widely disseminated report.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
At the time the complaint was submitted, acting intelligence community watchdog Tamara Johnson, a career official who served in the role during the Biden administration, concluded one allegation contained in the complaint was not credible and said she could not assess the second. Fox, the current intelligence community inspector general and a former Gabbard aide who was confirmed to the role last fall, said the complaint was “administratively closed” in June 2025 and no further investigative steps were taken – a fact Fox said undercut notions that the matter was an “urgent concern” requiring prompt congressional notification.
Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee and one of the lawmakers who reviewed the complaint, said Sunday on “Face the Nation” that the previous inspector general had issued a “ruling of urgency.” Warner said that view was “contradicted” by the new inspector general, “but the process was still ongoing.”
“There was a ruling of urgency by the first inspector general. That was contradicted by the Trump inspector general, but the process was still ongoing,” Warner said. “The fact that this sat out there for six, seven, eight months now, and we are only seeing it now, raises huge concerns in and of itself.”
Warner said the whistleblower is waiting on legal guidance from Gabbard on how to approach the committee. And he outlined that Democrats are trying to get access to both the redactions to the complaint and the underlying intelligence. The intelligence committee vice chairman argued that he can’t make “a judgment about the credibility or the veracity, because it’s been so heavily redacted.”
Meanwhile, the Republican chairs of the House and Senate Intelligence committees said last week after reviewing a redacted version of the complaint that they agree with the evaluation that it was not credible. Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas said in a post on social media that “it seems like just another effort by the president’s critics in and out of government to undermine policies that they don’t like.” Rep. Rick Crawford, also of Arkansas, called it “the same deep state playbook used by the fake whistleblower that sparked the first Trump impeachment witch hunt.”
Gabbard strongly pushed back on the accusations of mishandling the complaint in a lengthy social media post on Saturday, while accusing Warner and the media of lying to the American people. She outlined the timeline of events, while saying the first time she saw the complaint was two weeks ago, at which point she said she had to review it “to provide guidance on how it should be securely shared with Congress.” (The earlier timeline issued by Fox said he discussed the complaint with Gabbard and ODNI’s top lawyer in person in early December).
“Senator Warner’s decision to spread lies and baseless accusations over the months for political gain, undermines our national security and is a disservice to the American people and the Intelligence Community,” Gabbard said.
Warner responded to the comments on “Face the Nation,” questioning Gabbard’s fitness for the role.
“I do not believe that Director Gabbard is competent for her position,” Warner said. “I don’t believe that she is making America safer by not following the rules and procedures on getting whistle blower complaints to the Congress in a timely fashion.”
A spokesperson for the intelligence community inspector general’s office declined to comment on the content of the complaint. “Due to the exceptional sensitivity of the underlying intelligence report, IC OIG can neither confirm nor deny the accuracy of any such purported details,” the spokesperson said.
NSA Deputy Director Tim Kosiba said in a statement, “The duty to safeguard classified information is paramount, as mishandling or leaking of such information could significantly harm national security. Consistent with all applicable laws, NSA investigates any mishandling or unauthorized disclosure of intelligence and partners closely with Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to ensure the necessary steps are taken to hold those accountable.”
“Distinct from unauthorized disclosures and working closely with NSA’s Office of General Counsel, NSA ensures that whistleblowing is protected by Federal laws, policies and procedures,” Kosiba said.