(NewsNation) — Despite claims that the government illegally leaked UFO whistleblower David Grusch’s medical records to news outlet The Intercept, the reporter behind the story says he received the information on Grusch through publicly available law enforcement records.
Grusch’s claims that the U.S. government has secretly been in possession of nonhuman spacecraft sparked international attention. Earlier this week, Grusch, a former Air Force officer and intelligence official, said in a statement to NewsNation that he learned The Intercept intended to publish an article highlighting struggles he has faced in the past with post-traumatic stress disorder, grief and depression.
Investigative journalist Ross Coulthart, who initially reported on the story on Grusch’s claims for NewsNation, told NewsNation host Chris Cuomo that he believed the government was behind the effort to release Grusch’s medical records in an effort to smear his credibility.
However, Ken Klippenstein, the reporter who wrote the story, said this isn’t the case, and that the records he was given were neither confidential or medical.
“The UFO whistleblower is accusing me of using confidential medical records leaked to me by the intelligence community,” Klippenstein said on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Every part of that is false. I used publicly available police records I obtained under FOIA.”
FOIA stands for Freedom of Information Act, a U.S. law providing the public the right to request access to records from any federal agency. Different states have different guidelines went it comes to making these kinds of requests.
Klippenstein, in his article, said he sent a routine Virginia FOIA request to the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office, and documents were provided to him by the office’s FOIA coordinator.
Police records Klippenstein was given detail how Grusch was committed to a mental health facility after making a “suicidal statement” when his wife suggested he get help, saying he was an alcoholic. The story goes on to state Grusch retained his security clearance anyway.
However, this didn’t stop politicians from expressing anger over a leak they saw as retaliatory, even before the Intercept story came out revealing how Klippenstein actually got the information.
“Tell me who illegally leaked Grusch’s health records and I will bust their ass,” Republican Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee said in a social media post.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a Republican from Florida, also referencing a leak, said in a lengthy statement that the “mainstream media and our corrupt government would love nothing less than to put a muzzle on any courageous individual like Grusch who is exposing the truth about what’s actually happening in regard to this issue.”
Grusch elaborated on mental health struggles he has faced in his statement to NewsNation. He talked about how hard it was coming home from Afghanistan, and dealing with the loss of a friend.
“I was personally affected again years later when a close friend of mine, an intelligence officer who was serving in Air Force Special Operations Command at the time, took his own life shortly after we last spoke,” Grusch said. “I am proud to be transparent on this matter and am glad I got the help I needed to continue my intelligence career.”
If you or someone you know needs help, resources or someone to talk to, you can find it at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline website or by calling 988. People are available to talk to 24×7.
During a previous interview with Coulthart, Grusch said his PTSD does not affect him anymore and has not had an impact on the information he came forward with about UFOs.