Tulsi’s Final Intelligence Failure

When truth and propaganda can occupy the same briefing

CIA Headquarters | Tulsi Gabbard | Moscow Kremlin

As she was being pushed out the door by her temporary replacement, the eminently unqualified William Pulte, Tulsi Gabbard rescinded a flawed intelligence product that had turned a blind eye to Russian attacks on US government officials, then pivoted to resurrect a Russian information operation that falsely claimed the US was supporting the development of bioweapons in Ukraine.

From the time the Senate confirmed Tulsi as Director of National Intelligence, she committed to get to the bottom of the Havana Syndrome. While the original Intelligence Community Assessment was significantly flawed in many ways, the refusal to acknowledge even the possibility that the Russians were responsible for these attacks was a glaring omission. As she left office, Tulsi half-delivered by rescinding the Assessment. At the same time, she declassified several documents related to US biolab assistance to governments that emerged from the collapse of the Soviet Union. While the breathless announcement from her Office claimed that Tulsi was revealing a secret program, this program has existed since 1991 and has seen remarkable successes over the past three-plus decades in helping to dismantle the remnants of the Soviet Union’s Weapons of Mass Destruction program scattered throughout the former Soviet Union.

First, one cheer. For once, Tulsi seemed to play it straight, identifying five specific ways in which the Assessment failed to meet analytic standards. The Assessment represented a significant institutional failure; its failings included selective exclusion of evidence, mischaracterization of sources to suppress alternative analyses, reliance on a medical study that was ethically flawed, and limiting collection of additional evidence in support of an analytic approach that focused on the absence of a smoking gun and seems not to have explored the likelihood of state (specifically Russian) involvement. The allegations in the ODNI memo are consistent with the excellent reporting over the years by 60 Minutes and The Insider.

The rescission of the Assessment is an important first step in allowing a fresh look at the Havana Syndrome. The second step will only be successful if it accepts that the victims have suffered real damage from these attacks. By waiting until her last days, Tulsi does not need to worry about the next step, which likely will result in a conclusion that Russia is the source of these attacks. Given the significant injuries that a number of US officers have incurred, and the failure of the Government to provide timely medical care, it is critical that an outside group of experts pay this issue the attention it demands. In normal times, this could be done by an interagency effort led by the National Security Council. Unfortunately, these are not normal times.

While the now-gone DNI deserves credit for rescinding the flawed Assessment, Tulsi’s final gambit on biolabs is a muddled mess. Her “revelations” include four documents, only one of which appears to have been classified. The classified document is an Intelligence Community Analysis that focuses on a veterinary research facility in Kharkiv that is an ongoing target of Russian misinformation operations and possible attack (Russia, after all, has been bombing civilian targets throughout Ukraine, to include Kharkiv, since its February 2022 invasion, and has failed in a number of attempts to capture Kharkiv). It is in the context of possible damage by Russian bombing that it is important to note that the virology building has a basement, even though the presence of basements is always good for conspiracy theorists.

The other documents appear to have been created by the ODNI, and they are unclassified. The final slide in her presentation is titled Ukraine Labs: Web of Connections to U.S. BW Defense Industry. And who are the members of this sinister Web? The United States Department of Agriculture. The University of Florida. The US Navy Medical Research Center. Kansas State University. The University of New Mexico. The University of Tennessee at Knoxville. That hardly seems to be a group of radical deep state bioterrorists. It does seem to be a respectable assembly of universities with excellent agricultural schools.

The fourth document highlights the fact that the US Government paid Ukrainian scientists to study the genome of the “highly pathogenic avian flu.” Avian flu afflicts Ukrainian as well as US poultry farmers. The most recent outbreak in the United States cost US agriculture nearly one and a half billion dollars. Bioweapons are no laughing matter, but neither is cooperating with Ukraine to develop ways to fight avian flu.

The sad fact is that Tulsi is resurrecting old conspiracy charges that date back to 2022. When she made them at that time, the Republican Party vigorously criticized her for parroting Russian propaganda and disinformation.

So Tulsi, farewell. Thanks for highlighting the bureaucratic failure that was the Intelligence Community Assessment. Unfortunately, your last step was yet another win for the Russian disinformation machine.

James Petrila spent over thirty years as a lawyer in the Intelligence Community, working at the National Security Agency and, for most of his career, at the Central Intelligence Agency. He has taught courses on counterterrorism law and legal issues at the CIA at the George Washington University School of Law. He is currently a senior advisor to the Institute for the Study of States of Exception and is a member of The Steady State.

All statements of fact, opinion, or analysis expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the official positions or views of the US Government. Nothing in the contents should be construed as asserting or implying US Government authentication of information or endorsement of the author’s views.

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