FBI Launches Investigation into Possible Classified Leaks by Senate Intelligence Committee Democrats

WASHINGTON — The FBI has launched a formal investigation to determine whether Democrats or their aides on the Senate Intelligence Committee improperly disclosed classified material, following a criminal referral from the National Security Agency.

The inquiry stems from an NSA submission last summer that flagged the unauthorized release of an overseas intercept. The communication, between two Hezbollah operatives, appeared in several news outlets — including a New York Times report — during Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s confirmation hearings earlier in 2025.

According to the referral, the Hezbollah figures referenced Gabbard having met the “big guy” on her 2017 trip to Syria, which some read as a meeting with a senior Hezbollah leader — a charge Gabbard has strongly rejected. The NSA confirmed the intercept’s accuracy but determined Gabbard had no such meeting with Hezbollah figures.

Investigators traced potential sources to Democrat staffers on the committee who had access to the classified material before it surfaced publicly. The referral sat idle at the Justice Department for months, unknown to top officials, until FBI Director Kash Patel was briefed on it several weeks ago. FBI counterintelligence and criminal teams have since ramped up the effort and broadened it to review additional leaks and media interactions involving the committee’s Democrats.

The case fits into the Trump administration’s ongoing push against classified leaks, which has yielded multiple indictments of former officials over the past 15 months. The Senate Intelligence Committee has faced prior scrutiny; in 2018 its former security director, James Wolfe, admitted lying to the FBI about leaking sensitive information to a reporter.

Prosecutors are examining whether the intercepts were deliberately shared with journalists for political gain during a high-stakes confirmation. No charges have been brought, and the probe is continuing. The Senate Intelligence Committee declined to comment.

For the administration, the matter highlights persistent worries about the politicization of intelligence and the safeguarding of classified documents on Capitol Hill. Further updates are anticipated as the FBI advances its work.