Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has publicly accused longtime Washington Post national security reporter Ellen Nakashima of harassing members of her staff by contacting high-level intelligence officers using a burner phone. The allegations, made via Gabbard’s verified account on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday, have sparked significant backlash and reignited the debate about press overreach, national security, and the ethical boundaries of journalism.
According to Gabbard, Nakashima has bypassed official press channels and instead used deceptive tactics to reach members of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), including misrepresenting her identity and demanding sensitive information. Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman turned Independent, currently serves as a high-ranking member of the Trump administration.
“It has come to my attention that Washington Post reporter @nakashimae appears to be actively harassing ODNI staff,” Gabbard 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.”
The accusations are serious and point to what Gabbard characterized as an ongoing campaign by Nakashima and The Washington Post to undermine the Trump administration’s national security agenda.
“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,” Gabbard continued. “This is a clear political op by the same outlet and the same reporter who harassed and stalked my family in Hawaii.”
Gabbard’s post described the reporter’s tactics as a “deranged” departure from any semblance of journalistic ethics and charged The Post with being part of a larger media effort to sabotage the administration of President Donald Trump.
“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 wrote. “The Washington Post should be ashamed, and they should put an end to this immediately.”
Nakashima, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist with The Washington Post since 1995, has long covered national security and intelligence matters. She has written extensively on both Gabbard and President Trump over the past several years, often from a critical lens. Though Gabbard did not publish recordings or transcripts of Nakashima’s alleged phone calls, her accusations have received wide attention and support from prominent conservative figures.
Former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn responded to the controversy with a call for decisive action against the Post.
“The WAPO should be shut down,” Flynn posted. “Take any and all taxpayer funds from them and all of their reporters. Do not allow them entrance to any USG facility without an escort. Do not allow anyone in the entire USIC to take any of their questions or to do any interviews with them.”
Flynn’s support is notable, especially given Nakashima’s reported involvement in the media-driven campaign to remove him from his post in early 2017. Investigative journalist Mollie Hemingway of The Federalist pointed out that Nakashima was one of the reporters who benefited from leaks intended to damage Flynn, noting that this behavior fits into a larger pattern of activist-style journalism under the guise of national security reporting.
“Surprise surprise. The same reporter involved in the strategy to get Flynn. At what point is WaPo held accountable?” one post read, linking to Hemingway’s reporting from 2020.
In response to the firestorm, Washington Post Executive Editor Matt Murray issued a statement defending Nakashima and denouncing Gabbard’s allegations as baseless.
“For three decades, Ellen Nakashima has been one of the most careful, fair-minded, and highly regarded reporters covering national security,” Murray said. “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.”
He further claimed Gabbard’s post “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.”
Meanwhile, David Weigel, a former Post reporter and current media commentator, also came to Nakashima’s defense, questioning the credibility of Gabbard’s claims.
“Not credible that Ellen, who’s been at the paper since Bill Clinton’s first term, would call sources ‘lying about the fact that she works for the Washington Post,’” Weigel wrote. “Gabbard provides no proof here.”
Despite the media pushback, Gabbard’s post has energized a growing number of Americans who remain skeptical of legacy media and its perceived bias against conservative figures. For many within the national security community, the question now turns to whether Nakashima’s tactics crossed a legal or ethical line — and if further investigation is warranted.
As tensions escalate between the intelligence community and members of the corporate press, this incident may mark a turning point in how the Trump administration addresses unauthorized contacts between journalists and government officials.