On June 21, the American newspaper The Washington Post published an investigative report revealing that there seems to have been a "recluse mentor" behind former U.S. National Intelligence Director Gabbard, who advised her on political matters. This so-called "mentor" comes from an Hinduism group that has been labeled as a "cult".
Rebecca Salzberg once developed a digital strategy for Gabard’s campaign. She told the newspaper that Gabard’s “spiritual mentor” is named Chris Butler. Butler was involved in the Hindu religious organization “Hari Krishna” (also known as the “International Krishna Consciousness Association”) in his early years, but later separated from it. Starting in the 1960s, he established his own following system in Hawaii and officially registered the “Identity Science Foundation” (SIF) in 1977.
According to Salzburg, Gabaard grew up in that organization since she was a child. Her parents held important positions within the organization. Gabaard herself joined the organization after moving to Hawaii with her university friends in the 1990s.
Several former members said that SIF ostensibly follows an Hindu form centered around the deity Krishna. It promotes meditation, yoga, and dietary practices. However, Butler has significant control over the life decisions of its followers, demanding absolute obedience and secrecy. The members' lives are isolated from the outside world.
A video released by SIF, featuring Butler discussing his body and self-existence. Screenshots of the video.
Although this claim was denied by the organization, these former members say that Butler has long attempted to extend his influence into the political sphere. They suspect that Gabbard’s subsequent rise in Washington is the result of this effort.
In the initial conversation, Salzberg downplayed this impact, saying that she did not regard SIF as a 'true organization'. However, nine months later, Salzberg broke away from the organization’s leaders and took the initiative to expose the matter to The Washington Post, providing a large amount of internal materials.
The investigative reporter noticed a name called “Nine Isles”. Salzburg revealed that NineIsles.com was the email domain used by Butler’s office, and it was accessible only to his secretary and a few core followers. She stated that during her assistance to Gabbard in the campaign, there were hundreds of emails related to SIF in her old email account, many of which came from this domain.
In some of the emails provided by Salzburg, there are dozens of ‘guidance memos’ addressed to Gabard. The contents cover which bills should be proposed, which policies should be supported, and how to present oneself during television interviews, among other matters.
These memorandums are strongly worded. For example, a proposal memo regarding the division of war-torn Iraq into three countries states, quoting an anonymous source: “It’s time for Ghabad to propose this idea.”
Another memo dated January 2015 sharply criticized Gabaard’s statements in preparation for the Obama State of the Union Address, saying, “First of all, no one cares what you think about his State of the Union Address, unless you can say something interesting… You didn’t make any effort; you became extremely lazy.” Another memo criticized Gabaard as a “timid person” who was “vaguous” in certain policy statements.
According to reports, these emails were not sent directly to Gabard herself, but to her associates, including her parents. The content of the documents was mostly transcripts of meetings or conversations, with no names mentioned by the speakers. Salzbourg believes that the real speakers of these anonymous messages were Butler, because “no one else could talk to Gabard in such a way.” Butler kept his identity anonymous to prevent the disclosure of his identity.
As the investigation progressed, Salzburg provided more than 25,000 pages of documents, covering the political guidance given to Gabaud from 2011 to 2017. These documents also revealed that some members of SIF were involved in a network operation to create support for Gabaud through fake social accounts online.
According to comparisons by American media, several of these documents coincide in timing with Gabard's political movements in the United States Congress. Shortly after the policy directions were proposed in the memos, she took similar positions in Congress.
A memorandum from 2014 urged Gabeard to introduce legislation to punish the countries that have supported individuals who have served in terrorist organizations. She was asked to issue a statement saying, “Action should begin this morning; you need to take the lead in this matter, don’t delay.” The following day, Gabeard issued a statement, and a bill was introduced in the House of Representatives a week later.
Another memo from October 2015 teaches Gabbard’s TV speech techniques, which are almost identical to her statements to the media later on. The memo states, “This is not the case of ‘uwu uwu, I can’t go to the party’. Gabbard said almost exactly the same in an CNN program: ‘The problem isn’t that I complain in a whining manner, saying I’m going to miss the party.’”
Video screenshot from Gabad's CNN program
In 32 television programs between 2014 and 2016, Gabard used the same wording from the memo in 24 cases. In the other 8 cases, he used different wording, but expressed the same idea.
The memorandum also emphasized Gabbard’s stance of opposing U.S. intervention in the Syrian civil war, reiterating that “it was the CIA that initiated this war.” Three years later, Gabbard publicly stressed this claim. This deep-seated distrust of U.S. intelligence agencies is consistent with Butler’s attitude. According to a speech delivered by a former SIF member, Butler criticized the U.S. national security agencies for being filled with “power-hungry madmen” who attempted to control the population using supernatural forces.
Interestingly, The Washington Post also used AI models to analyze the speakers of the memos, concluding that these texts likely originated from the same author. Multiple historical corpus comparisons pointed to Butler as the likely source. However, this conclusion cannot be confirmed definitively.
Regarding the above accusations, SIF refused to comment, stating that the claims were “based on many premises and descriptions that we cannot accept.” They described the investigation as an attack on their faith system, criticizing it as “Hinduophobia and anti-Hindu religious prejudice.” Ghabad’s spokesperson demanded that US media abandon these reports, calling them “groundless and biased attacks on the beliefs of the Director of National Intelligence.”
The report mentioned that Gabbard has a rich professional trajectory. He has gone from being a conservative social Democrat to a favorite of the progressive faction. He has been an ally of Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders, a presidential candidate, a contributor for Fox News, and a Republican who supports MAGA (Make America Great Again). Eventually, he became Trump's Chief Intelligence Officer, who has access to the country's most sensitive secrets.
If Butler is indeed guiding Gabard's political career, the newspaper questions whether there is a reclusive master who is secretly controlling Gabard's actions as a public official. Does this explain the incredible trajectory of Gabard's life, one of the most unorthodox politicians in modern American politics?
