If you want to know who the deep state fears, watch who they attack.

They’re not going after bureaucrats who play ball. They’re not targeting intelligence officials who protect the old guard. They’re coming for Tulsi Gabbard — and they’re coming hard.

This week, Senator Mark Warner went on NBC and accused the Director of National Intelligence of hiding a whistleblower complaint in a safe for eight months. He said she was “not competent to do the job.” He painted a picture of a rogue DNI burying explosive information to protect… someone. The story was vague on details but heavy on innuendo.

There was just one problem with Warner’s story: almost none of it was true.

And Tulsi Gabbard wasn’t going to let it stand.

The “Blatant Lie”

Gabbard came out swinging on social media with a detailed, point-by-point takedown of Warner’s accusations.

“Senator Mark Warner and his friends in the Propaganda Media have repeatedly lied to the American people that I or the ODNI ‘hid’ a whistleblower complaint in a safe for eight months,” she wrote.

“This is a blatant lie.”

Then she laid out the facts.

She was never in possession of the whistleblower complaint. Never had it. Never controlled it. The document was held by the Intelligence Community Inspector General — first Tamara Johnson, a Biden-era appointee, and then her successor Chris Fox.

The first time Gabbard even saw the complaint? Two weeks ago. When she reviewed it to provide guidance on how it should be securely shared with Congress.

So Warner’s entire premise — that Gabbard buried a document for months — is based on a timeline that doesn’t exist and possession she never had.

That’s not a misunderstanding. That’s either incompetence or a lie. Gabbard made clear she thinks it’s the latter.

The Inspector General Already Ruled

Here’s the part the media conveniently buried in their breathless coverage.

The Inspector General — the Biden-era Inspector General, not a Trump appointee — already reviewed the whistleblower complaint. The determination? The specific allegations against Gabbard “weren’t credible.”

Let me say that again. A Biden administration official looked at this complaint and concluded the allegations against Gabbard weren’t credible.

The current IG, Chris Fox, conducted his own review. Same conclusion.

House Intelligence Committee Chair Rick Crawford confirmed it publicly: “I concur with the conclusion that the Biden-era IC IG, Tamara Johnson, reached regarding the non-credible nature of the complaint.”

So we have two Inspectors General — one appointed by Biden, one current — both saying the allegations don’t hold water. And we have Mark Warner on national television acting like this is the scandal of the century.

That’s not oversight. That’s a hit job.

Why the Classified Document Theater?

The Wall Street Journal report that started this whole mess leaned heavily on the fact that the complaint is “so highly classified it has sparked months of wrangling over how to share it with Congress.”

Ooh. Sounds spooky. Must be serious if it’s that classified.

But here’s what that actually means: the complaint contains sensitive intelligence information that has to be handled according to established protocols. It can’t just be emailed around Capitol Hill. It has to be secured properly.

Which is exactly what happened. The Inspector General secured it. When it needed to be shared with Congress, it was hand-delivered to the Gang of 8. Then it was returned to secure storage.

This isn’t a cover-up. This is how classified information works. Every single person on the Senate Intelligence Committee knows this. Mark Warner absolutely knows this.

Which means his outrage is theater. Pure, manufactured theater designed to create headlines and damage Gabbard.

The Real Target

Why is the deep state going after Tulsi Gabbard with such ferocity?

Because she’s actually doing her job.

As RedState reported, Gabbard has been digging into some very uncomfortable territory — including the intelligence community’s role in the 2020 election. The fifty-one intelligence officials who signed a letter calling the Hunter Biden laptop “Russian disinformation.” The suppression of accurate information in the final weeks of a presidential campaign.

The people who orchestrated that operation are still around. Many of them are still in government. All of them have a vested interest in making sure nobody looks too closely at what they did.

Enter Tulsi Gabbard, a DNI who isn’t playing by the old rules. Who isn’t protecting the establishment. Who is asking questions that make powerful people very uncomfortable.

Of course they’re trying to destroy her. She’s a threat to everyone who benefited from the old way of doing things.

Warner’s Credibility Problem

Let’s talk about Mark Warner for a second.

This is the same senator who spent years pushing the Russia collusion narrative. The same guy who was the public face of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s investigation into Trump-Russia ties — an investigation that produced headlines but never delivered the smoking gun Democrats promised.

Warner has a track record of making dramatic accusations that don’t hold up under scrutiny. He’s a reliable source of anti-Trump rhetoric dressed up as national security concern.

And now he’s going after the DNI with claims that have already been debunked by two separate Inspectors General.

At some point, credibility should matter. At some point, a senator who keeps crying wolf should stop being taken seriously.

Gabbard put it perfectly: “Either Senator Warner knows these facts and is intentionally lying to the American people, or he doesn’t have a clue how these things work and is therefore not qualified to be in the U.S. Senate — and certainly not the Vice Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee.”

That’s the choice. Dishonest or incompetent. Pick one.

The Media’s Role

Notice how the media covered this story. The Wall Street Journal ran with anonymous sources claiming Gabbard was hiding something. NBC gave Warner a platform to call her incompetent. The headlines all suggested scandal and cover-up.

Then Gabbard responded with a detailed, factual rebuttal. She laid out the timeline. She explained the process. She pointed to the Inspector General determinations. She named names and cited specifics.

How much coverage did that get?

Crickets.

Because the story was never about the truth. It was about damaging Gabbard. Once she fought back with facts, the media lost interest. The accusations had already done their work. The rebuttal was an afterthought.

This is how the propaganda machine operates. Launch the attack, generate the headlines, move on before anyone can respond effectively. Rinse and repeat.

What This Is Really About

Mark Warner and the intelligence community old guard want Tulsi Gabbard gone. They want a DNI who will protect their secrets, cover their tracks, and not ask uncomfortable questions about what they’ve been doing for the past decade.

Gabbard isn’t that person. She’s asking the questions. She’s looking at the receipts. She’s following the threads that lead to places powerful people don’t want examined.

So they’re trying to destroy her with leaks, anonymous accusations, and manufactured scandals. They’re using their media allies to amplify claims that don’t hold up to basic scrutiny. They’re hoping that if they throw enough mud, some of it will stick.

It’s not working. Gabbard is fighting back. She’s not backing down. She’s not apologizing. She’s calling them liars to their faces and daring them to prove otherwise.

That’s not what they expected. They’re used to targets who fold, who apologize, who resign quietly to make the scandal go away.

They picked the wrong target this time.

The Bottom Line

Mark Warner lied. The media amplified the lie. Two Inspectors General — including one appointed by Biden — have determined the underlying allegations aren’t credible. Gabbard never had the document she was accused of hiding.

The entire scandal is fabricated. And everyone involved knows it.

But they don’t care. The point was never truth. The point was destruction. The point was taking out someone who threatens the established order.

Tulsi Gabbard isn’t going anywhere. She’s fighting back, hard, with facts and fire. And every attack that fails only proves she’s doing something right.

The deep state wanted a DNI they could control. They got one they can’t.

And they’re terrified.