Overview
- The Washington Post reviewed more than 25,000 pages supplied by Rebecca Saltzburg and reported that hundreds of memos from 2011–2017 appear to give advice on what bills Gabbard should introduce, which policies to champion, and how to speak on television.
- Reporters compared 32 television interviews to the talking-point memos and found that Gabbard used language nearly verbatim in 24 instances, with specific memos cited that match her timing on Iraq policy and rapid bill introductions.
- Gabbard resigned as Director of National Intelligence in late June to care for her husband after his cancer diagnosis, and her office called the reporting a ‘‘blatant example of anti-Hindu bigotry.’
- The Science of Identity Foundation and Chris Butler declined to comment while multiple former members described the group as cult-like and said Butler’s inner circle circulated the memos through a NineIsles.com email network, a claim Saltzburg made to journalists.
- The reporting raises questions about vetting, transparency and the provenance of the documents, and it has provoked wide media reaction while no formal legal findings or official investigations have been reported.