WASHINGTON — Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s office warned an attorney for a whistleblower Monday he could not brief members of Congress on his client’s claims without risking the disclosure of classified information.
ODNI general counsel Jack Dever told Andrew Bakaj that he had no legal authority to bring the complaint against Gabbard to members of the House and Senate intelligence committees.
“The highly classified nature of the underlying complaint increases the risk that you or your client inadvertently or otherwise breaks the law by divulging or mishandling classified information,” wrote Dever, according to a copy of the letter reviewed by The Post.
“You may have other means of appearing in front of Congress, but this is not it.”
Dever also noted that the complaint, which was filed with acting Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG) Tamara Johnson’s office this past May, has been twice deemed non-credible.
“[D]espite your contentions to the contrary, the protections and rights attributed to whistleblowers, including your client, do not extend to you,” he said. “The complainant remains authorized to notify Congress of the ‘fact of’ their complaint, not details of the contents.”
Bakaj was also accused of having falsely alleged misconduct by Gabbard, who Dever said “has followed the law throughout this process.”
“Any allegations to the contrary are baseless and do not accurately reflect the DNI’s actions to keep the relevant Congressional committees fully informed,” the ODNI general counsel added.
Johnson had served in the Biden administration before being elevated to the top intelligence watchdog post. She was succeeded by current ICIG Christopher Fox, who “administratively closed” the matter in June 2025.
Not much is known about the complaint, though at least eight congressional leaders reviewed a redacted version of it earlier this month.
“I have reviewed this ‘whistleblower’ complaint and the inspector general handling of it,” said Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), one of those leaders, in a statement last week.
“I agree with both inspectors general who have evaluated the matter: The complaint is not credible and the inspectors general and the DNI took the necessary steps to ensure the material has handled and transmitted appropriately in accordance with law,” he added.
“To be frank, it seems like just another effort by the president’s critics in and out of government to undermine policies that they don’t like; it’s definitely not credible allegations of waste, fraud, or abuse.”
Committee Vice Chair Mark Warner (D-Va.) has disputed that, telling CBS News’ “Face the Nation” Sunday that Johnson, “a long-term professional,” had “viewed it [the complaint] as credible.”
But there were, in fact, two complaints that Johnson reviewed, one of which was deemed not credible and another of which she couldn’t assess, according to Dever.
The complaint reportedly laid out how the National Security Agency intercepted a call between two foreign nationals who were discussing an individual close to President Trump, Bakaj and a senior US intelligence official previously told CBS.
“We only saw it in February, and we’ve got this complete contradiction where the then-lawyer for Director Gabbard said she shared the responsibility she had to share this with Congress in June, the legal responsibility,” Warner told “Face the Nation.”
“She later stated that she was not aware of her responsibility. Ignorance of the law is not an excuse if you’re the Director of National Intelligence.”
Dever denied that claim Monday, writing: “Given the highly classified nature of the underlying allegations that your client chose to include, the ICIG’s normal methods of informing the committees of the allegations were insufficient to protect exquisite intelligence.”
“Therefore, ODNI provided security guidance that your client’s complaint be hand-delivered by the ICIG to the ‘Gang of Eight,’ on a ‘read and return’ basis and that no notes be taken. As a result, ODNI has satisfied congressional notification requirements.”
Bakaj did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
