In the wake of President-elect Donald Trump’s decision to appoint ex-Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as his Director of National Intelligence, reports have resurfaced of her ties to a religious sect described as a “cult”—a connection that has the potential to throw her nomination, which requires Senate confirmation, into jeopardy.
Gabbard became the first American Samoan and practicing Hindu in Congress when she joined the U.S. House representing Hawaii’s 2nd congressional district in 2013. She reportedly met her husband, Abraham Williams, just a year before when he volunteered to shoot a video for her campaign.
In addition to bonding over a love of surfing, The Daily Mail reported that the couple also was mutually connected to the Science of Identity Foundation (SIF), a group with a history of antagonism toward LGBTQ people, women and Muslims. The group’s leader, Chris Butler, is heralded by members as a deity in his own right.
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The SIF, described as an alt-right branch of Hare Krishna, has reportedly developed thousands of followers across Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia—with Butler being heralded as an extension of God.
“I was raised to believe Chris Butler was God’s voice on Earth, and if you question him or offended him in any way, you were effectively offending God,” said a former SIF member in a 2017 Medium post.
Gabbard’s aunt, Dr. Caroline Sinavaiana Gabbard, was blunt about her views on the organization, and her niece’s involvement in a 2022 interview with The Independent.
“Once again I find my niece’s apparent penchant for parroting extremist toadies such as Tucker Carlson and vile strongmen such as Vladimir Putin, to be problematic and deeply troubling,” she said. “It gives me no pleasure to note that Tulsi’s single governing principle seems to be expedience, which is in effect no principle at all.”
Caroline also alleged that Gabbard’s 2020 presidential bid was the result of Butler’s pursuit of political influence, with Gabbard openly praising Butler as her “guru.”
Amid open backlash against her nomination for the coveted intelligence role, the reports of her ties to the fringe religious sect could result in more pushback against Gabbard—especially after she was previously connected to a Russian spy.
John Bolton, who served as Trump’s national security advisor to President Donald Trump from April 2018 to September 2019, called Gabbard the “worst cabinet-level appointment in history” in a CNN interview (That is, until Bolton heard about Matt Gaetz being nominated as attorney general).
“Now we are going to see whether the American Senate can stand up and reject two people who are totally unqualified, unfit professionally, and really lacking in the moral character you need to hold these jobs,” said Bolton. “I think this vote should be 100 to nothing against both of them.”
As one senior former intelligence official told Politico, Trump’s nomination of Gabbard was a “left turn and off the bridge.”
