In a political climate already riddled with disinformation, paranoia, and partisan attacks, a new storm is brewing—one that has left many Americans scratching their heads.
Former Congresswoman and Army veteran Tulsi Gabbard has once again found herself at the center of controversy. A series of far-fetched allegations, accusing her of harboring treasonous ties to foreign governments, has recently gained renewed attention—not from fringe conspiracy blogs, but from the highest levels of the U.S. Department of Justice. Attorney General Pam Bondi, in a surprising announcement last week, revealed the creation of a new DOJ “strike force” tasked specifically with investigating claims related to “domestic actors with potential foreign entanglements,” a thinly veiled reference to Gabbard.
Critics, both left and right, have responded with disbelief.
“These claims are nonsense,” said Rachel Maddow on MSNBC. “They’ve been investigated. They’ve been debunked. And yet now, under the guise of national security, Pam Bondi’s Justice Department is breathing new life into what should have died as a social media hoax.”
The origins of the conspiracy can be traced back to 2019 and 2020, when Gabbard’s non-interventionist stance on Syria, Russia, and the military-industrial complex made her a political outlier. Some accused her of parroting foreign propaganda. These criticisms, though largely discredited by intelligence officials, were amplified by political opponents who saw her as a threat to the mainstream narrative. Fast forward to today, and those same unfounded claims appear to be the basis for a federal strike force with the power to surveil, interrogate, and investigate.
The DOJ’s official line is that the task force will focus on “national security threats posed by public figures with potential foreign influence,” but legal experts argue that this language is dangerously vague—and potentially unconstitutional.
“Creating a federal task force based on innuendo sets a terrifying precedent,” said civil liberties attorney Maya Clifton. “When the government begins investigating people over what amounts to political dissent, that’s not national security—that’s authoritarianism.”
Tulsi Gabbard, for her part, has fiercely denied the allegations and condemned the DOJ’s actions as a threat to free speech. “This is not just an attack on me,” she wrote in a public statement. “It’s an attack on every American who dares to think independently and speak the truth, even when it’s unpopular.”
So why is Pam Bondi, a figure who has long aligned herself with tough-on-crime politics, suddenly reviving debunked conspiracies in the form of federal investigations? Analysts suggest it’s more about political optics than actual threat assessment.
“Bondi knows exactly what she’s doing,” said political strategist Kevin Jacobs. “This isn’t about Tulsi. It’s about sending a message: if you challenge the establishment, we’ll make an example of you. It’s about fear, not justice.”
Bondi, in a press briefing, defended the initiative by claiming that “the American people deserve to know who they can trust.” But when pressed for evidence of wrongdoing on Gabbard’s part, she offered only vague references to “ongoing assessments” and “classified intelligence.”
Even some Republican lawmakers have expressed concern. Senator Rand Paul tweeted, “If we start targeting U.S. citizens based on their foreign policy views, we no longer have a republic—we have a surveillance state.”
Meanwhile, civil rights groups are mobilizing. The ACLU has already filed a FOIA request demanding all documentation related to the formation of the strike force, calling it “a gross misuse of federal resources designed to chill dissent.”
As the public watches this drama unfold, one question continues to echo: If the treason accusations against Tulsi Gabbard are truly baseless—as experts, journalists, and intelligence officials widely agree—then what exactly is the DOJ investigating?
And perhaps more importantly: who’s next?
In the name of protecting America, we may be inching toward a version of it where dissent is punished, truth is redefined, and political power justifies any action—even those that undermine the very democracy we claim to defend.
