Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard destroyed the Washington Post and its reporter, Ellen Nakashima, making it clear they're not fooling anyone with their insane tactics to get information out of her department.
In a post on Thursday on X, Gabbard named the reporter and listed the steps she claimed the Post's national security scribe had taken to "sabotage" President Donald Trump's agenda.
"It has come to my attention that Washington Post reporter @nakashimae appears to be actively harassing ODNI staff," the director wrote. "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."
"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," she added. "This is a clear political op by the same outlet and the same reporter who harassed and stalked my family in Hawaii."
"This kind of deranged behavior reflects a media establishment so desperate to sabotage @POTUS's successful agenda that they've abandoned even a facade of journalistic integrity and ethics," Gabbard continued. "The Washington Post should be ashamed, and they should put an end to this immediately."
At the time of this publication, there has yet to be a response from Nakashima. However, the Washington Post's Executive Editor Matt Murray has released a statement defending their reporter.
It read:
For three decades, Ellen Nakashima has been one of the most careful, fair-minded, and highly regarded reporters covering national security. Reaching out to potential sources rather than relying solely on official government press statements regarding matters of public interest is neither nefarious nor is it harassment. It is basic journalism. DNI Gabbard's unfounded personal attack reflects a fundamental misunderstanding about the role of journalists to report on government officials and hold power to account, without fear or favor and regardless of party. The Post remains committed to that vital and constitutionally protected work.
While it is unclear what kind of intelligence information Nakashima was looking for, Gabbard's claims about the outlet undermining Trump's agenda follow reports by legacy media outlets like CNN, which appeared to downplay the successful airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities with Operation Midnight Hammer.
As RedState reported, President Trump praised the mission, touting that the US had obliterated the Islamic State's key enrichment facilities. He also criticized the fake news for its reporting that the operation wasn't a success when it used language such as "partially destroyed" to describe the operation.
In a post on Monday on his Truth Social, the president reacted to reports on CNN and other news organizations about the U.S. strikes on several Iranian nuclear sites that appeared to contradict Trump's post announcing that the facilities had been obliterated.
"The sites that we hit in Iran were totally destroyed, and everyone knows it," Trump's post read. "Only the Fake News would say anything different in order to try and demean, as much as possible — and even they say they were 'pretty well destroyed!'"
"Working especially hard on this falsehood is Allison [Anderson] Cooper of Fake News CNN, Dumb Brian L. Roberts, Chairman of 'Con'cast, Jonny [Jonathan] Karl of ABC Fake News, and always, the Losers of, again, Concast's [Comcast] NBC Fake News," the president added. "It never ends with the sleazebags in the Media, and that's why their Ratings are at an ALL TIME LOW — ZERO CREDIBILITY!"