Tulsi Gabbard tears into the Washington Post for 'deranged harassment' of intel officials and her own family
- The DNI called out a reporter for harassing her employees
America's top intelligence official is accusing a Washington Post reporter of 'shamefully' harassing national security officials for stories.
'It has come to my attention that Washington Post reporter [Ellen Nakashima] appears to be actively harassing ODNI staff,' Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard posted on social media.
'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.'
Nakashima has been with the Post since 1995 and has been a part of multiple Pulitzer Prize-winning teams for her coverage on the January 6 Capitol riot, Russia's interference in the 2016 election and the National Security Agency's surveillance efforts, according to her online biography.
According to Gabbard, the reporter abandoned basic 'journalistic integrity and ethics' with her reporting tactics.
'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,' the DNI continued.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard called out a Washington Post reporter on Thursday for harassing her staff
Washington Post reporter Ellen Nakashima
Nakashima did not immediately respond to the Daily Mail's request for comment.
Gabbard also accused Nakashima and the outlet of stalking her family in Hawaii.
'This kind of deranged behavior reflects a media establishment so desperate to sabotage,' the DNI charged.
'The Washington Post should be ashamed, and they should put an end to this immediately.'
Gabbard's offensive against the reporter comes at a turbulent time for the intelligence official.
Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, has proposed legislation to slash the size of her agency in half.
'ODNI was intended to be a lean organization to align America's intelligence resources and authorities, not the overstaffed and bureaucratic behemoth that it is today,' he said in a statement.
Cotton's bill - if passed - would provide a sweeping overhaul of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), including cutting its staff from 1,600 to 650.
It would also shutter the National Intelligence University, a federally chartered research university dedicated to national security.
The push for downsizing the ODNI is in line with the broader Trump administration agenda to shrink the federal workforce, though the president has not specifically signaled his support for it.
