Who is Chris Butler, Tulsi Gabbard’s ‘spiritual guru’ who helped shape her decisions as a politician?

First Post/June 22, 2026

A year-long investigation by the Washington Post has uncovered 25,000 documents that uncover Tulsi Gabbard’s close ties to controversial spiritual guru Chris Butler. The probe shows that the leader of Science of Identity Foundation (SIF), which is referred to as a cult by many, exerted pressure on the outgoing Director of National Intelligence by sending mails on what policies she should support when she was in Congress, as well as how she should present herself to the media.

Ahead of Tulsi Gabbard’s departure from the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) office, a huge revelation has been made, sending shockwaves through social media, and could spell trouble for the Trump administration.

A Washington Post report reveals Gabbard’s ties to spiritual leader Chris Butler, the founder of a breakaway Hare Krishna movement that some former members have described as a cult. While it was known that the leader in the Trump administration had ties to Butler, the report outlines just how much influence the spiritual leader had on Gabbard.

As this story gains traction online — The Atlantic’s Shane Harris has called it “extraordinary new reporting” — we take a closer look at who Chris Butler is and how he directed Gabbard throughout her career.

Who is Chris Butler, and what is  Science of Identity Foundation?

Tulsi Gabbard has long been a follower of Chris Butler and a member of his Science of Identity Foundation (SIF). Butler’s SIF has roots in the Hare Krishna movement that exploded in the US during the 1960s and 70s, courtesy Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

This movement slowly spread across the US and reached Hawaii in the early 70s. It was there that Butler, who was at the time a yoga teacher and surfer, was introduced to the teachings of the Hare Krishna movement.

In 1971, when he met Bhaktivedanta, Butler “turned over” his disciples to the Indian man and took up a new name for himself: Siddhaswarupananda, a Sanskrit word that means a “spiritual form full of bliss”. The new identity ensured that people recognised him as an initiated disciple in the growing Hare Krishna movement.

However, Butler soon began to clash with his guru — he married and instructed his followers not to shave their heads or wear robes, while Bhaktivedanta chided him for his non-orthodox teachings.

When Bhaktivedanta died in 1977, Butler stepped away from the Hare Krishna movement to start the Science of Identity Foundation. He began to further de-emphasise traditional Hindu texts and practices and began to expound his own controversial views.

Today, the SIF has teachings varying from the Hare Krishna movement. It professes to combine teachings of yoga with elements of Hindu theology while encouraging followers to practice vegetarianism and abstain from gambling, smoking, alcohol, drugs, and extramarital sex.

Butler also teaches that homosexuality is evil, using homophobic rhetoric to drive home his point. Moreover, public schools and the outside world are not to be trusted. It is for these reasons that children of followers are home-schooled, and some — including Gabbard — were later sent to schools the SIF created in the Philippines.

What makes Butler’s SIF controversial?

While the SIF has been able to garner a following in Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia, many describe the group as cult-like. Former members of the group describe themselves as survivors of a cult and have recounted what it would be like to follow Butler’s teachings.

“I was raised to believe Chris Butler was God’s voice on earth, and if you questioned him or offended him in any way, you were effectively offending God,” someone who identifies as a former member of the SIF wrote in a 2017 Medium post. “Questioning the leader was spiritual suicide, which was seen as worse than death.”

Another former member told New York Magazine that Butler was vulgar and vindictive, berating people for small slip-ups like driving poorly or failing to clean water cups properly.

Butler has also espoused critical views on Muslims, even referring to them as demons.

In the early 2000s, an Oklahoma woman, Robin Marshall, told The Independent about her six months in SIF. She noted that recruits were taught to be “highly homophobic”. “They told us: ‘We don’t associate with f**s’,” using a homophobic slur. “The hatred, the degrading language, it was just one thing after another.”

She was played recordings of Butler, who she says espoused extreme homophobic views. “They said he could read your mind. They were wholly and fully indoctrinated into this idea that Chris Butler was basically God.”

Butler and Gabbard have denied claims that the SIF has ever resembled a cult. “I can speak to my own personal experience and, frankly, my gratitude to him, for the gift of this wonderful spiritual practice that he has given to me,” she was quoted as telling the New Yorker in the past.

How much influence has Butler had on Gabbard and her politics?

While it isn’t a secret that Gabbard considers Butler as her guru — she even met her husband, Abraham Williams, in SIF — what has now emerged from the Washington Post report is the extent of his influence on her political career.

Through 25,000 pages of documents, including hundreds of memos spanning 2011 to 2017, the American news website has shown Butler’s circle closely guiding Gabbard’s moves throughout much of her early time in Congress. These documents were provided to The Washington Post by Rebecca Saltzburg, who worked on  digital strategy for several of Gabbard’s congressional campaigns. The documents reveal how Butler gave Gabbard instructions on the legislation she should propose while she was in Congress, which policies she should embrace, and how she should conduct herself on television.

One memo about Iraq reportedly suggested that it was time for Gabbard to publicly promote a plan to divide the country into three separate regions. “It’s time for TG to come up with this idea,” the memo quoted an unnamed person as saying.

A 2014 memo from SIF urged Gabbard to propose legislation penalising countries with citizens who had fought for the Islamic State, and to issue a statement about it. “Get it started in the morning,” the person wrote. “You need to be the leader in this regard. Don’t dick around.”

Interestingly, Gabbard issued a statement a day later. And a week later, even introduced legislation on it in the House.

In a document dated 2015, Gabbard was given talking points for an interview with CNN. The memo stated that she should say that being excluded from a Democratic presidential debate was not a “boo-hoo, I don’t get to go to the party” situation. Once again, Gabbard used these very words in her interview: “The issue here is not about me saying boo-hoo, I’m going to miss the party.”

The investigation also reveals that Butler loyalists created dozens of social media accounts meant to defend and elevate Gabbard. Some of those same accounts were among the loudest voices after Gabbard announced her resignation from Trump’s Cabinet in May.

The documents reveal that advice was given to Gabbard on a whole range of matters — from taxes to the mysterious disappearance that year of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 and more.

One memo also guides her on how to appear on television. “Don’t forget to smile, etc. Don’t do the eye thing,” read the document. She was also sent memos on how she might run for president in 2016.

How has Gabbard reacted to the revelations?

Following the Washington Post report, Gabbard’s team has strongly rejected the claims.

After repeated requests for comment, her chief of staff told the newspaper that the allegations amounted to “a blatant example of anti-Hindu bigotry”. A spokesperson further described the report as an “uncredible, bigoted attack” on Gabbard’s faith.

Meanwhile, many journalists and netizens have expressed surprise and shock at the Washington Post investigation. Former Washington Post reporter Marc Fisher wrote that the investigation “presents powerful evidence that director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was deeply under the sway of her lifelong guru, a cultic leader who told her what to say and how to say it.”

Another X user, Josh Rogin, wrote: “Tulsi Gabbard followed the advice of her Hare Krishna “Guru” Chris Butler for years on what to say, what bills to introduce, and what policy positions to push, according to this new WaPo exposé. The writer found hundreds of thousands of pages of damning emails. Shocking stuff.”

• With inputs from agencies

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