UFO Whistleblower David Grusch Loses $2.5M Privacy Lawsuit

Show Transcript

CRISTINA GOMEZ

The UFO whistleblower who shocked Congress with claims of alien crash retrievals just lost his $2.5 million lawsuit, and the details reveal a sophisticated character assassination campaign that began just 96 hours after his testimony. David Grusch's legal battle against the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office ended on August 7th, 2025, with a dismissal that exposes how intelligence agencies can allegedly weaponize transparency laws to destroy convenient witnesses while keeping their hands technically clean. This isn't just about one man's privacy. It's about a new playbook for silencing whistleblowers in the digital age. I'm Cristina Gomez and welcome to this episode of UFO News Updates.

CLIP 1 - DAVID GRUSCH (NewsNation Interview)

First, let's hear from Grusch himself about the mental health struggles that became central to this case.

DAVID GRUSCH: "I served in Afghanistan and I had a friend that committed suicide after I got back. And I dealt with that for a couple of years. And I'm proud as a veteran who did not become a statistic, totally took care of that issue in my life and it doesn't affect me anymore. So you suffered PTSD? I am, yes, I did. Did that affect your explanation of what's happening today? Is it possible that you're deluding yourself? No, absolutely not. You know, I'm very proud to admit that was an issue in my life and I encourage, you know, veterans watching here to, you know, get help. So they're not a statistic like a good friend of mine. So I've got to be blunt about this. You're not making this up. This is not a lie. No, absolutely not."

CRISTINA GOMEZ 

Within weeks of his testimony in July of 2023, something else made headlines. Intimate details about his personal mental health crisis from 2018.

CLIP 2 - ROSS COULTHART (TV Interview)

ROSS COULTHART: "David Grusch received an approach from a news magazine, an online news magazine called The Intercept. They're doing their jobs. That's fine. They've been fed information. The problem is the information that they've been fed is information that David had already privately disclosed to us and actually volunteered in his interview with me. It was a section of the interview that didn't go to air. But basically he discussed with us when I asked him whether there was any dirt that anybody could drag out to try to discredit him. He barely thought this was worth mentioning, but he acknowledged that he'd suffered from PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder, when he returned from Afghanistan. And at one time, he wouldn't mind me telling you this, he was suicidal. And his lovely wife was so concerned about him that at one stage she did call the police because there were guns in the house. She wanted to make sure he was protected. And in the end, David was taken to a local hospital, given the treatment that he needed. And indeed, This is the most important thing, Chris. The intelligence community and the Defense Department clearly accepted that there was no issue because he was allowed to keep his security clearance and he continued to serve his country honorably."

CRISTINA GOMEZ 

But here's where this becomes a masterclass in modern character assassination. Within 96 hours, just four days of Grusch's congressional testimony, embarrassing the Pentagon, Ken Klippenstein filed Virginia FOIA requests targeting Grusch's background. Now, Klippenstein later admitted he received vague tips from multiple intelligence community sources. Listen to him on Breaking Points talking about it.

CLIP 3 - KEN KLIPPENSTEIN (Breaking Points Interview)

KEN KLIPPENSTEIN: "And so I know people both in DOD and the intelligence community, and I did a call for tips to try to broaden the picture. It really just came from a mosaic of different sources that gave me ideas of what was going on. We can talk about that more. But really my motive was just, it didn't feel like anybody was vetting this guy. So lay out the specifics of the story and what you found through your FOIA request. So under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, you can request police records. They're called call detail records, CADs, obscure things that aren't kind of like the typical police report that journalists tend to ask for. And maybe that's how they didn't know it existed. I have some practice with FOIA, I've been doing this a long time. So when I got these back, it was two different incidents reported by his wife and previous wife. in which he had gone, in the second case that was in 2018, I think, he had gone into a, it was described as like an angry, drunken rage where he was suicidal, asked his wife to kill him. She called police, said that the guns were locked up, and then he was placed in a mental facility where, after he was assessed, And then released, I think, a day later. Got it. And this happened 2014, 2018? Both. Okay."

CRISTINA GOMEZ 

The timing was pretty surgical. Destroyed the messenger right after he delivers an inconvenient message. What do you think? Was this coordinated retaliation or just journalism? Because this question goes to the heart of the legal case that just concluded. If you enjoy UFO news, updates, case studies, and interviews, and you will like this channel, please subscribe and share this episode with those you want to keep in the know with the latest UFO news.

The Virginia Code Section 37.2-818 explicitly requires involuntary detention records to remain confidential and specifically exempts them from FOIA requests. The statute has critical clear language protecting records, relevant medical records, reports, and court documents pertaining to hearings related to temporary detention. This isn't some gray area, it's black letter law. Grusch's legal team, led by a former intelligence community inspector general, built their $2.5 million case on both state privacy tort law and constitutional privacy rights. Legal experts claim it was explicitly strong because Virginia has robust medical privacy protections, with precedents like Fairfax Hospital versus Curtis establishing health care provider liability for disclosure violations and the Parker versus the Carilion Clinic decision confirming Virginia's privacy protections.

But the sheriff's office fought back with procedural warfare, filing a plea in bar to kill the case before examining facts, likely claiming legal immunity, arguing these were just police records, not protected medical information or invoking statute of limitations. The judge postponed decisions after a June 2nd hearings, but the court ultimately ruled that Virginia's mental health confidentiality statute applies only to court files, not police records, and the redacted release complied with FOIA requirements and the Sheriff's Office demonstrated sufficient care in the redaction process.

CLIP 4 - ROSS COULTHART (Historical Context)

ROSS COULTHART: "The parallels here, Chris, are amazing. It's 52 years since Daniel Ellsberg, the last great whistleblower on the Defence Department, was literally his psychiatrist's office was burgled in, I think, 1971. in an effort to try and discredit him. And medical records of Daniel Ellsberg were procured by the Nixon administration and used to try and denigrate him. It blew up in the intelligence community's face at the time. And frankly, I think there should be an inquiry into the circumstances of how sensitive records pertaining to a decorated combat veteran's file found their way to a journalist, not through the proper channels."

CRISTINA GOMEZ CONCLUSION

Grusch still has 30 days to appeal the ruling. As of this record, no appeal has been announced. But given the stakes involved, don't be surprised if this isn't the final chapter. What's your take on this ruling? Should transparency laws be weaponized against whistleblowers? Or does this represent a fundamental provision of government accountability? Let me know in the comments below. That is it for today. I will see you next time. Be safe and remember, keep your eyes on the skies.