Republican leaders of the House and Senate intelligence committees have dismissed a top-secret whistleblower complaint alleging that Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, withheld classified information for political reasons.
Senator Tom Cotton and Congressman Rick Crawford both stated that the complaint did not appear credible and appeared to be politically motivated. Cotton said the complaint was an effort to undermine the Trump administration, while Crawford called it a smear attempt against Gabbard.
The complaint, filed by an anonymous government insider, was referred to Congress after an eight-month delay. Democratic lawmakers, including Senator Mark Warner, criticised the delay, noting that the law requires such referrals within 21 days. Gabbard's office defended the delay, citing the need for extensive legal and security review due to the classified nature of the complaint.
The intelligence community's inspector general said the complaint also accused Gabbard's office of failing to report a potential crime to the Department of Justice. However, the previous inspector general had found the claim about distributing classified information not credible, while the current inspector general said he would have deemed the complaint non-urgent.
The complaint was hand-delivered to the “gang of eight” congressional leaders. Andrew Bakaj, attorney for the whistleblower, said there was no justification for keeping the complaint from Congress since last spring.
