Tulsi Gabbard’s political career was boosted by a “cult” that fed her talking points and influenced her views, according to a bombshell report published Sunday in the Washington Post.
The Hawaii native, who rose from Honolulu city councilwoman to Democratic congresswoman to President Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence, grew up around Chris Butler, an “eccentric religious leader” who founded the Science of Identity Foundation.
The group is an offshoot of Hare Krishna branch of Hinduism, which former members say is a cult.
Gabbard, who used to call Butler her “guru,” used near-verbatim talking points sent to her by a Butler aide in 24 of 32 television appearances she gave between 2014 and 2016, the years-long Post investigation, which involved thousands of emails and other documents, found.
In the eight other instances, Gabbard did not mimic the talking points word-for-word but conveyed similar ideas.
“The main speaker in a 2014 memo pressed for her to propose legislation penalizing countries with citizens who had fought for the Islamic State, and to issue a statement about it.
“Get it started in the morning,” the person told Gabbard, according to the Post story. “You need to be the leader in this regard. Don’t d--- around.”
Gabbard released a statement the following day, the Post reported. And a week after that, she introduced a bill in the House.
“An Oct. 12, 2015, memo labeled “CNN Wolf Blitzer Talking points (Final)” contained this language about reports that she had been asked by Democratic leadership not to attend a presidential debate:
“It’s not a ‘boohoo, I don’t get to go to the party’ situation, Wolf.’ I dug up the clip of her appearance that day and found that she had used the line almost verbatim: ‘The issue here is not about me saying boo-hoo, I’m going to miss the party,’” the Post reported.
The group also gave Gabbard media coaching, the investigation found.
In June 2014, a Butler aide emailed Gabbard a memo telling her: “Don’t forget to smile, etc. Don’t do the eye thing,” before Gabbard made a national television appearance.
“On YouTube, I found a clip of Gabbard on CNN the following day. At several points, she opened her eyes wide while speaking,” the Post reported.
“Well, from what I saw, she’s doing the f---ing eye thing again,” an unnamed speaker told the aide later that day, according to a transcript of a conversation obtained by the Post. “She’s still doing the eye thing.”
The documents did not cover any of Gabbard’s time as DNI, a post she is resigning from next week after citing her husband’s cancer diagnosis.
Gabbard’s announcement was made as the Post sought her for comment on its investigation.
The Science of Identity Foundation also deployed its members to make anonymous social media accounts to raise Gabbards profile, according to the Post investigation.
A public relations official hired by the group dismissed the allegations as the result of religious prejudice.
“Hinduphobia, anti-Hindu religious bigotry, that’s all this is,” the statement said. “When a Hindu public figure has a spiritual teacher or shares views with a Hindu religious figure, that alone is somehow evidence of sinister control.”
