The FBI has reportedly launched a criminal investigation into whether Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee or their staff leaked classified intelligence information to The New York Times in an apparent effort to damage Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard during her confirmation battle.

According to reporting from Just the News, the probe centers on a National Security Agency criminal referral last year tied to the disclosure of a classified overseas intercept that surfaced in a New York Times report during Gabbard’s contentious nomination process.

Sources told the outlet that FBI Director Kash Patel moved quickly after learning of the dormant referral, opening a criminal investigation into whether Senate Intelligence Committee Democrats or their staff improperly disclosed classified material.

The alleged leak reportedly involved intelligence tied to Gabbard’s 2017 Syria trip.

The intercepts reportedly captured two Hezbollah terrorists discussing Gabbard’s 2017 trip to Syria, where they claimed she met with “the big guy.”

The classified material was in the hands of Senate Intelligence Committee Democrats and their staff before it magically appeared in the New York Times hit piece.

Just the News reported:

The Times suggested the reference was taken by some to mean Gabbard had met with a top Hezbollah terrorist leader, a claim she adamantly denied.

NSA concluded the leak accurately contained information from one of its intercepts but that Gabbard had not in fact met with Hezbollah leaders.

The spy agency identified potential leakers among Senate Intelligence Committee Democrat staff who had access to the intercept prior to the Times report, sources said.

The referral languished inside the Justice Department for months – with top leaders unaware of the concerns – until FBI Director Kash Patel was alerted to the existence of the referral a few weeks ago.

Tulsi Gabbard has been a wrecking ball to the Deep State. She referred multiple intelligence community leakers to the DOJ earlier this year, calling them out as “deep-state criminals” leaking for partisan purposes to undermine Trump.

She’s barred the IC from sharing classified intel with Five Eyes partners on Ukraine negotiations to protect American interests. And she’s declassified mountains of documents proving Barack Obama and his cronies knew the Russia collusion narrative was a total fraud from day one.

The post FBI Launches Criminal Investigation into Senate Intel Committee Democrats for Leaking CLASSIFIED Intel on DNI Tulsi Gabbard to the New York Times: Report appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.