Lawmakers have been scrutinizing Gabbard’s ties to the Science of Identity Foundation, according to the report
Rhian Lubin | Independent | Jan 29, 2025
Tulsi Gabbard’s campaign paid a firm to “mask connections” to an alleged pyramid scheme linked to a secretive sect she grew up in, according to a report.
The Senate Intelligence Committee is set to grill President Donald Trump’s pick to serve as director of national intelligence on Thursday over her questionable connections and background. Since she was named as nominee to the post, she has faced questions and pushback given her previous statements and her history with foreign nations.
Lawmakers have been scrutinizing Gabbard’s ties to the Science of Identity Foundation and the Hong Kong-based marketing firm QI Group, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Gabbard was raised in the secretive sect whose members pledge absolute loyalty to its reclusive guru, Chris Butler. The sect has long been tied to QI — accused of running a pyramid scheme in several countries.
Gabbard attended a Science of Identity boarding school in the Philippines and spent her formative years and schooling sheltered from outside influences, her late aunt told The Independent in 2022.
According to the Journal, Gabbard’s campaign paid the PR firm Potomac Square Group, based in Washington D.C., to “mask the connections” between the sect, the marketing firm, and the politician. But the clean-up was reportedly steered by a former follower of the sect — Sunil Khemaney — who is also a long-time political fundraiser to Gabbard and sits on the board of a QI subsidiary.
Potomac managing director Christopher Cooper told The Independent that the firm worked with Gabbard’s campaign for a few months in 2017 “to help it manage online attacks related to her religion.”
“We provided support and advice in two specific categories: to demystify the issue by helping Rep. Gabbard publicly discuss the details of her spiritual life and relationship with SIF, and to correct errors of fact,” Cooper said in a statement. “PSG wasn’t directed to mount a ‘pressure campaign’ to silence or target reporters and we didn’t conduct one [and] PSG was not hired to conceal Rep. Gabbard’s relationship with SIF and we did not do so.”
Cooper added that the firm worked “briefly” with the sect and there was “no involvement from the Gabbard campaign.”
Hong Kong-based QI and the sect have been linked for years. The company was founded in 1998 by Vijay Eswaran and Joseph Bismark, a Filipino businessman who is also reportedly a Science of Identity follower. It began as an e-commerce operation selling commemorative gold and silver coins in developing countries.
One of QI’s enterprises is an alleged pyramid selling system where customers become distributors, selling gadgets, jewelry, beauty products and more for a share of the profits. Customers, according to the Journal, are encouraged to recruit others to join the scheme and if successful, earn a cut from their sales.
Who would you rather have guarding your Back? A Jew like George Soros or Noah Harari? A Christian like Joe Biden? Or a worshpper of tigers and monkeys like Tulsi?
Edgar, I think you’ve got the “pyramid” idea nailed – sales driven.
All of this kind of “Pyramid” scheme share the same characteristics
Just the same as Tupperware, and many others. They encourage salespersons this way. Lucrative to those who really try.
No political output; purely sales driven.
As for the rest, I don’t have the knowledge to comment.