Overview

• Gabbard claimed that Ellen Nakashima used a burner phone to call high-level ODNI officers, refused to identify herself and demanded sensitive information.
• She alleged Nakashima harassed and stalked her family in Hawaii and portrayed the reporting as a political operation against President Trump’s agenda.
• Washington Post Executive Editor Matt Murray described Nakashima’s outreach as routine journalism and called Gabbard’s personal attack unfounded.
• Former Post colleague David Weigel and other peers pointed out that Gabbard provided no evidence to back her allegations.
• The rare public denunciation by a top intelligence official highlights deepening conflicts over national security secrecy, press freedom and the politicization of intelligence.