A lawyer representing an intelligence-community whistleblower warned Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard that he will go directly to Congress next week with an unclassified briefing if her office does not provide written security guidance on how to transmit a classified complaint to the House and Senate intelligence committees.
In a letter dated Tuesday, February 3, 2026, legal counsel for the whistleblower, Andrew P. Bakaj, who works for Whistleblower Aid, wrote that his team has been requesting information on how to contact the committees in a way that follows proper security practices since mid-2025. However, he has yet to receive any information, he said. “While we have received information from you on how to contact the ICIG, we have yet to receive zero information from you on how to contact the Senate and House Intelligence Committees in a way that follows proper security practices,” he wrote.
Bakaj has given Director Gabbard until Friday, February 6, 2026, to provide his team with information. However, he wrote that if he does not receive information by that date, he will brief the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in an unclassified manner on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, about his client’s case, including “Ms. Gabbard’s conduct and the underlying intelligence concerns.” Bakaj also asked to be given security clearance for that information. Bakaj has a Top Secret clearance.
This warning comes as a result of increasing criticism regarding the handling of the complaint and whether Congress has been made aware of it. Current reports indicate that Bakaj believes the complaint has been inappropriately delayed, while Gabbard’s office disputes this, citing the extremely classified nature of the information and denying any improper handling of the situation.
The dispute began on June 6, 2025, as Bakaj stated his client had reached out to ODNI for guidance regarding communications made to the intelligence community’s inspector general. Bakaj stated that the complaint “contains information that directly bears on matters of national security and must be provided to Congress in a manner that protects classified information while permitting attorneys to communicate with cleared congressional staff.”
Bakaj also copied the intelligence committees regarding this letter, even though ODNI had yet to publicly respond to the situation, as evidenced by the publicly available letters as of Tuesday.
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