Tulsi Gabbard's political career was secretly directed by her guru Chris Butler. Under the pen name Bo Zhongyan (
柏忠言
), Butler also coauthored anti-Western books in China with his wife Wai Lana (Zhang Huilan,
张蕙兰
). They described Westerners as
"no more than dogs"
and dedicated their 1986 book to
"the great and magnificent Chinese nation"
—
这个伟大，壮丽国家的全体中国人民.
Source
Thousands of documents and emails from the covert Science of Identity political operation have been independently examined by the Washington Post. The content on this website is attributed solely to the site's author.
When anyone threatens Chris Butler or Tulsi Gabbard, the response is the same: a coordinated attack. The people who grew up inside the group and spoke out, journalists, and political rivals have all been targets of the same machine.
The Science of Identity Foundation, the religious group led by Tulsi Gabbard's guru "Jagad Guru" Chris Butler, presents itself in public as a peaceful community of yoga and meditation. Its forensic archive tells a different story: a standing operation, directed by Butler, to discredit, silence, and overwhelm anyone who becomes a problem.
Two of Butler's closest operatives, Sunil Khemaney and Allison Hoen, again and again served as Butler's operatives carrying out his attack machine to protect himself and Tulsi Gabbard. The pattern is consistent, and once you see it, it explains everything that comes after.
Butler & his associates organized attacks on the SIF children who dared speak up
Some of the network's most determined targets are people who were raised in it and later spoke out. When Rama R. and Lalita M., both children of SIF families, went public with their experiences, Butler's operation built an entire rebuttal website devoted to discrediting them by name, soliciting "open letters" from their own parents and siblings against them. 1
Butler personally dictated how to do it, scripting a question-and-answer routine for a "counter blog" and coaching Lalita's parents on the answers they should give.
"The notes regarding Lalita and the cult thing. What I wrote there is instructions on how to do it… Question: Did you ever kick your daughter out of the house? Answer: No…"
Chris Butler, SIF transcript, "Notes on Counter Blog," August 9, 2015 2
Journalists, drowned out by fabricated voices
Reporters who cover the group become targets too. To flood and discredit critical coverage, Butler's operatives ran a "Rapid Response Team" of fabricated online identities. Allison Hoen, who coordinated the commenting operation, was blunt about it: the profiles were fake, complete with invented names and high schools, several carrying "Top Commenter" status on Honolulu Civil Beat. The team even planned to run "2 Facebook profiles per IP address."
"All our profiles are pretty much fabricated, so it's a bit dicey when we want to post 10+ comments."
Allison Hoen, SIF project office, October 2014 3
Political rivals: blame the "Clinton camp"
When the target is a political rival, the same instinct kicks in. After criticism of Tulsi Gabbard surfaced during the 2016 primary, Butler's operative Sunil Khemaney drafted a proposal to stand up a permanent attack team, recasting all scrutiny as an orchestrated plot by Hillary Clinton's campaign.
"This started 6 weeks ago when Tulsi endorsed Bernie, so clearly the Clinton camp is behind this concerted and organized Hinduphobic campaign. Be the start of a team that can be called into service when she's in a tough campaign."
Sunil Khemaney, SIF proposal, May 24, 2016 (cc Allison Hoen) 4
The same playbook, again and again
Look at the targets together: two young people who grew up in the group and told their stories, local journalists doing their jobs, and a rival political campaign. The response was identical every time. Deny, attack the accuser, flood the zone with fabricated voices, and reframe any scrutiny as bigotry or a conspiracy. The network has used the same machinery against a grieving Hawaii family seeking answers after a fatal boating accident, a story told in full separately.
That is the context for everything this network now says about the women and the abuse survivors who have come forward. The smears are not evidence that the critics are lying. They are the predictable output of a machine that has been running for years.
When a group answers every accusation by attacking the accuser, the attack is not a rebuttal. It is a confession of method.
