Links:

    -SUBSTACK: https://substack.com/@realchrissyg
    -AUTHOR SITE: Christine Gralow, M.S.Ed., M.J.
    -AUTHOR SITE: Meanwhile in Hawaii
    -SUBSTACK: SpyTalk
    -AUTHOR SITE: Backpacking Burma
    -INDEX: Christine Gralow (MuckRack)
    -INDEX: Christine Gralow (NY Times: Lesson Plans blog)
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    -INDEX: Society of Identity Foundation (Cult Education Institute)
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    -PODCAST: The Hawaiian Cult that raised Tulsi Gabbard (with Christine Gralow) (Mission Implausible, Feb 8, 2026)
    -PODCAST: Episode 211: Tulsi Gabbard P1 (The Cult) feat Mike Prysner (Dec. 11, 2022, QAA)
    -PODCAST: Episode 212: Tulsi Gabbard P2 (The Fascist Turn) feat Mike Prysner (Julian Feeld, Travis View & Jake Rockatansky, QAA)
    -ESSAY: Tulsi Gabbard and the Pro-Kremlin Belgian Businessman: Gabbard’s 2024 Vatican visit, arranged by Pierre Louvrier, a Paris-based, pro-Russia financier, triggered a TSA security alert—not her opposition to Biden-Harris (Christine Gralow, Feb 12, 2026, SpyTalk)
    -ESSAY: Butler's Web: Krishna, Politics, and QNET's Global Money Laundering: Featured Story, Part One of a Three-part Series (Christine Gralow, 10/20/17, Meanwhile in Hawaii)

Butler's "MO was to recruit influential locals who could run for office," Wehrheim said.

Although the Independents for Godly Government political party that Butler's followers founded in the mid-'70s didn't formally last, the group's heavy involvement in Hawai'i politics did. Elected officials who have been Butler devotees include former Hawai'i State Sen. Rick Reed, former Maui County Councilman Wayne Nishiki, current Hawai'i State Sen. Mike Gabbard, former Hawai'i State Board of Education member Carol Gabbard, and current U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.

Rep. Gabbard celebrated Butler (who now goes by Jagad Guru Siddhaswarupanda Paramahamsa, among other names) as her "guru dev" in a video presentation for a 2015 ISKCON anniversary event. She identifies as the first Hindu U.S. Member of Congress, and she co-chairs the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans. Her ancestry is European and Samoan. She is the daughter of early Butler followers, Sen. Mike Gabbard and Carol Gabbard.

    -ESSAY: Butler's Web, Part 2: Who is Gabbard's Guru? (Christine Gralow, 12/03/17, Meanwhile in Hawaii)
    -ESSAY: Butler's Web, Part 3: Grooming the Second Generation (Christine Gralow, 12/31/17, Meanwhile in Hawaii)
    -ESSAY: My Battle with Tulsi Gabbard’s Cult Followers in Hawaii: Christine Gralow had left investigative reporting behind, but rumors of a money-laundering cult in her Oahu community prompted her to look into Tulsi Gabbard and her guru (Christine Gralow, Dec 03, 2024, SpyTalk)
    -ESSAY: Part 2: My Battle with Tulsi Gabbard’s Cult Followers in Hawaii: Christine Gralow faces surveillance, cyber attacks and legal harassment after exposing Gabbard’s ties to the Science of Identity cult. (Christine Gralow, Dec 04, 2024, SpyTalk)
    -ESSAY: Will Tulsi Gabbard Answer Questions About Her LGBTQ Hate Guru?: Slated to appear at today's LGBTQ forum in Cedar Rapids, Gabbard has thus far avoided discussing guru Chris Butler's decades of hate speech (Christine Gralow, with additional reporting by Gavin Aronsen, September 20, 2019, Iowa Informer)
    -ARTICLE: Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard Avoids Public Debate/Forum in Primary Election Race (Wayne Yoshioka, August 7, 2018, Hawaii Public Radio)
    -LETTER: An Open Letter to the Democratic Party of Hawai`i and ACLU Hawai`i (Christine Gralow, 5/26/2018, Meanwhile in Hawaii)
    -ETEXT: 10-page summary of its 2012 investigation of QI Group (India's Serious Fraud Investigation Office) [pdf]
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    -ESSAY: Who is Mike Gabbard?: It's hard not to like Mike Gabbard, once you meet the guy. In June, the city councilman hosted a talk-story meeting at the Wai'anae Public Library. These get-togethers have been monthly rituals for Gabbard since he was elected to represent the Wai'anae-to-'Ewa district in 2002. (Ronna Bolante, 8/01/04, Honolulu)
    -ESSAY: Islamophobic World View of Tulsi Gabbard’s Guru Revealed in Unearthed Recordings - Can she Still Run for President?: Shocking revelations from 8,000 pages of transcripts of Gabbard’s spiritual guru reveals racism in the sect at the centre of her life and her 2020 presidential campaign. (CJ Werleman, 3 October 2019, Byline Times)
    -ESSAY: Tulsi Gabbard: How an Extremist Cult Shaped the Anti-LGBTQ+ Crusader into Intelligence Chief (Global Extremism, November 21, 2024)
    -ESSAY: Gabbard’s Claim of “Foreign” Interference in Georgia Election Takes a Hit: Unsealed FBI affidavits make no mention of DNI’s claim rationalizing her involvement in Georgia election probe (Michael Isikoff, Feb 10, 2026, SpyTalk)
    -ESSAY: Tulsi Gabbard’s ties to secretive cult may explain her perplexing political journey: Dr Caroline Sinavaiana Gabbard toldThe Independent in an interview that her niece’s career is all about the pursuit of power (Bevan Hurley, 16 October 2022, The Independent)
    -ESSAY: All in the Family: The American Sangh’s affair with Tulsi Gabbard (Pieter Friedrich, 01 August, 2019, Caravan)

Gabbard's rise in US politics came out of nowhere, and is inexplicable until one considers how Sangh donations gave her a leg up when she was a virtual unknown. The first Indian-American donors to her first congressional campaign-who were also among the first non-Hawaiians to support her-are top executives in RSS affiliates in the United States. Donor names provided in filings to the Federal Election Commission, which I collated with lists from Sangh websites and promotional materials as well as media reports, reveal that hundreds of leaders and members of such groups gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to Gabbard in the formative years of her congressional career. Kallie Keith-Agaran, a Democratic activist in Hawaii, has also compiled a database of Gabbard's donors. Her extensive documentation of their contributions and affiliations closely corroborates my independent findings.

Gabbard emerged on the US political scene at a pivotal moment for the Sangh’s aspiration to see Modi as the Indian prime minister. Since 2002, Modi and the RSS had both grown increasingly controversial in the United States, facing protests by academics as well as censure by the US government. Modi stood accused of complicity in the anti-Muslim pogrom that had taken place in Gujarat, while he was the chief minister of the state. Even by conservative estimates, the pogrom took over a thousand lives. Afterwards, he was denied a visa to the country. The greatest diplomatic triumph for the American Sangh was rehabilitating Modi’s tainted reputation in the United States. Gabbard played a significant part in that project.

There are nearly 4.5 million Indian Americans in the United States. Just over half are Hindu. Fifty percent are registered Democrats, but they tend to shy away from partisanship-especially those who belong to Sangh offshoots. Constituting less than 1.5 percent of the population, Indian Americans are not typically considered a significant voter base. Yet they have emerged as a crucial constituency for Indian politics, given their vast support for Modi at his “rock-star” receptions in New York and California, and his dependence on them for “diaspora diplomacy.”

Amongst Gabbard’s many donors are various members of the US chapters of groups such as the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, the Overseas Friends of the BJP and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America. Thanks to her connection to leading figures of the American Sangh-such as Vijay Pallod, a businessman from Texas; Bharat Barai, an oncologist from the Chicago region; and Mihir Meghani, a physician from California-she has been eagerly welcomed at many Sangh fundraisers around the country.

Even as mainstream interfaith groups refused to participate in events hosted by the American Sangh, Gabbard repeatedly spoke at its events, in the United States and abroad. While organisations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have published reports warning about the spread of Hindu-nationalist violence under Modi’s administration, Gabbard has called India an “indispensable partner” to the United States, and pushed for enhanced cooperation between the two countries. Gabbard's donors have publicly applauded her for supporting Modi before he was elected, for speaking against the US decision to deny him a visa after 2002 and for working against congressional efforts to recognise human-rights violations in India.

    -ESSAY: Questions surround Tulsi Gabbard’s ties to politicized Hindu ‘cult’ (Steve Rabey, November 18, 2024, Baptist News Global)
    -ESSAY: From Obscure Cult to Top Spy: The Epic Rise of Tulsi Gabbard (Times of India, 2/13/25)
    -ESSAY: Tulsi Gabbard's religious background is not complicated, say American Hindus: Alongside criticisms of her political history, Gabbard has long fielded questions about her particular branch of Hindu faith, which many have referred to as a ‘cult.’ (Richa Karmarkar, January 29, 2025, Religion News Service)
    -ESSAY: Tulsi Gabbard's ties to the Science of Identity Foundation, a controversial religious sect that some call an abusive 'cult' (Yoonji Han, 10/18/22, Business Insider)
    -ESSAY: Tulsi Gabbard Used Her 'Cult Name' as Her Password For Years Across Accounts: Report: Gabbard's spokesperson said the passwords have been changed multiple times over several years (Morgan Music, May 07 2025, Latin Times)
    -ESSAY: Tulsi Gabbard and her Homophobic Cult (Rebecca Watson, January 27, 2025, Skepchick)
    -ESSAY: Was Tulsi Gabbard In A Cult That Eats Its Leader's Toenails? Is She Still?: To be fair they could have been talking about fingernail clippings. (Marcie Jones, Nov 18, 2024, Wonkette)
    -ESSAY: What do Tulsi Gabbard, Stehekin and the Science of Identity Foundation have in common? (Julia Duin, 10/11/19, Get Religion)
    -ESSAY: Tulsi Gabbard Has Lauded Religious Leader Accused of Running ‘Abusive’ Cult (Monica Sager, 11/14/24, Newsweek)
    -ESSAY: Tulsi Gabbard's alleged connection to secret cult and views on Russia-Ukraine war (Economic Times, 10/12/22)
    -ESSAY: Tulsi Gabbard’s Spiritual “Guru” Raged Against LGBTQ People: Audio recordings reveal the leader of a religious movement to which Tulsi Gabbard belongs spewed anti-LGBTQ rhetoric from the pulpit. (John Riley, January 30, 2025, MetroWeekly)
    -ESSAY: Tulsi Gabbard Is Not Who You Think She Is: From homophobia to Islamophobia to cultism, she is no progressive's dream. (Eoin Higgins, November 22, 2016, Paste)
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    -INDEX: “tulsi gabbard cult” (Honolulu Civil Beat)
    -PODCAST INDEX: “tulsi gabbard cult (Listen Notes)
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    -PODCAST: Joe Rogan Experience #2143 - Tulsi Gabbard (May 1, 2024 The Joe Rogan Experience