Intelligence Watchdog Warns of FBI Referral Over Alleged Disclosure of UAP Whistleblower Testimony
Written by Christopher Sharp - 11 August 2026
The Office of the Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG) has provided a statement to Liberation Times in response to allegations that details of testimony given by an Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) whistleblower were disclosed to a journalist.
Investigative journalist Jeremy Corbell has alleged that an ODNI source disclosed details of testimony provided by Dylan Borland, a UAP whistleblower who has made protected disclosures to the IC OIG and Congress. According to Corbell, the information included claims concerning an alleged UAP program codenamed ‘Rubik’s Cube’.
Speaking to Liberation Times, Borland corroborated the allegation that classified whistleblower testimony was intentionally disclosed to Corbell.
Borland is a former U.S. Air Force geospatial intelligence specialist who later worked as a senior analyst for defence contractors BAE Systems and Intrepid Solutions, examining video, radar and advanced electro-optical imagery.
In sworn testimony before Congress in September 2025, he identified himself as a federal whistleblower who had provided information to both the Intelligence Community Office of the Inspector General (IC OIG) and the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) concerning alleged craft, technologies and legacy UAP programs operating without congressional oversight.
A spokesperson for the Office of the Intelligence Community Inspector General responded to the allegation with a carefully worded statement. While declining to confirm whether Borland had provided testimony or whether any investigation was underway, the office emphasised that it is legally required to protect confidential whistleblowers and information that could reveal their identities.
The spokesperson also warned that any unauthorised disclosure of protected information could result in removal from federal service and referral to the FBI or another investigative authority:
‘We are aware of a recent public claim by a journalist concerning testimony allegedly provided to IC OIG. Subject to limited exceptions, IC OIG is required by law to protect from public disclosure the identity of confidential whistleblowers and certain information that could reasonably be expected to reveal their identities. IC OIG takes these obligations seriously.
‘Consistent with longstanding policy and practice, IC OIG can neither confirm nor deny the existence of any pending or ongoing investigation. Any unauthorized disclosure of information protected by law, including information that identifies of could reasonably be expected to identify a confidential whistleblower, may constitute grounds for removal from Federal service and may also warrant referral to FBI or other appropriate investigative authorities.’
Corbell’s allegation concerning Borland forms part of a broader controversy surrounding ODNI’s Director’s Initiatives Group (DIG).
Corbell also alleges that the same unnamed ODNI official circulated damaging claims said to have emerged from another whistleblower’s private meeting with the group.
As Liberation Times previously reported, the group conducted its own inquiry into UAP-related allegations and met privately with whistleblower Matthew Brown at the Liberty Crossing Intelligence Campus in Virginia. Brown said he had been approached by the individual leading the effort and invited to provide information about his experiences.
According to Brown, the group did not appear focused on the substance of what he was saying.
Instead, he felt they were more interested in learning which classified compartments and sub-compartments he had accessed.
This left him with the impression that they wanted to work out how he knew what he knew and stop similar disclosures from happening again.
Brown believes this led to him being wrongly labelled antisemitic.
Brown denied those claims and believed they formed part of an attempt to discredit him. Borland was also named among the UAP whistleblowers allegedly subjected to intimidation or smear efforts connected to the inquiry.
Asked about that specific allegation, an ODNI spokesperson provided the following statement to Liberation Times:
‘ODNI has been and continues to be focused on carrying out the objectives of President Trump's executive orders and mandates, including assisting with any relevant information related to UAPs.’
The statement did not directly address whether information from Brown’s meeting had been disclosed or whether ODNI was examining the allegation.
ODNI also sought to distinguish the secure setting of the meeting from the legal protections attached to it.
It noted that information discussed inside a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) is not automatically classified, since unclassified matters may also be discussed there, and stressed that simply speaking inside a SCIF does not in itself confer whistleblower protections.
Separate from the alleged disclosures, questions have also arisen about the investigative approach adopted within the DIG, which was established under former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
Multiple sources who have spoken to Liberation Times claim that the investigation was compromised by elements linked to the CIA, allegedly to discourage Congress from pursuing further UAP hearings and legislation, while deterring additional whistleblowers from coming forward publicly.
James E. Erdman III, a senior CIA operations officer assigned to ODNI on a joint-duty posting, was among the earliest members of the DIG and led its work on UAP, anomalous health incidents and the origins of COVID-19.
Erdman subsequently alleged that the CIA obstructed the group’s work, monitored its communications and tracked its contacts with whistleblowers. In testimony provided to the Senate in May this year, he described himself as a senior CIA operations officer and alleged that the agency had investigated DIG members and monitored their computer and telephone activity.
However, Erdman’s own recent public comments about UAP claims and the wider UFO community have raised questions about the assumptions informing the group’s inquiry.
Those concerns are particularly relevant because Erdman, as a CIA officer assigned to ODNI, led the examination of allegations that implicated his home agency in a secretive UAP retrieval and reverse-engineering effort.
Writing on X in response to comments by journalist Walter Kirn, Erdman stated:
‘I generally lean in on believing fighter pilots and submariners with everything to lose when they choose to risk vocalizing their experiences to their chain of command. I just don’t think we can draw a straight line between all their stories and alien life just yet and they don't always jump to that conclusion either. They want answers just as much as the next guy.
‘There is also … a whole lot of grifting and lies infecting the UFO community. If anyone is up to the task of discerning between fact and fiction, I have no doubt @walterkirn is the guy. Nothing has been black and white on this issue. Videos released without explanation, often released during unfavorable news cycles, and trumpeted by the same set of inter-connected alien-chasers should not be propagated as evidence.
‘COVID also taught us how to identify PsyOps… We shouldn’t forget hard fought lessons.
‘If the government doesn’t provide first hand evidence of biologics, evidence of a crash retrieval program, or any object that is the subject of an ongoing reverse engineering program … treat it as a known unknown, a lie, a mistake, or a grift until proven otherwise.’
Erdman appeared willing to credit military witnesses describing incidents outside the secrecy of alleged UAP Special Access Programs and Controlled Access Programs.
By contrast, he characterised claims involving non-human biologics, recovered craft and reverse-engineering efforts - allegedly concealed within those compartments - as lies, mistakes or grifts unless direct evidence was produced.
That position raises questions about the approach taken during the UAP investigations Erdman led within the DIG and the treatment of whistleblowers.
Requiring publicly available proof from programs alleged to have been deliberately hidden behind the highest levels of classification risks prejudging the very claims the group was tasked with examining.
The concern is heightened by accounts from whistleblowers who interacted with the DIG. They claim that, rather than receiving an impartial hearing, they faced suspicion, intimidation and attempts to undermine their credibility.
Erdman’s remarks do not establish that he personally participated in such conduct. However, their adversarial framing raises questions about whether allegations concerning covert UAP programs were investigated with sufficient independence and an open mind.
Concerns about the DIG’s work form part of wider allegations concerning resistance to UAP disclosure within ODNI.
Three sources have told Liberation Times that figures within ODNI linked to the CIA are resisting efforts by the Trump administration to release more substantial information concerning UAP.
Those sources identified Aaron Lukas, the Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence, as one of the officials allegedly providing such resistance.
Lukas previously spent more than two decades within the Intelligence Community and served as a CIA Chief of Station. According to his official ODNI biography, he managed sensitive clandestine programs, conducted covert operations and maintained liaison relationships around the world.
Liberation Times has not independently substantiated the allegations concerning Lukas.
