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Thomas Monheim

IC Inspector General (2020–25) who received David Grusch's 2022 complaint, found it credible and urgent, and briefed House Oversight members in January 2024.

Current role: Former Inspector General of the Intelligence Community (resigned effective 3 January 2025); no current public role identified as of 2026-10-10

Former roles:

  • Inspector General of the Intelligence Community (acting from April 2020; Senate-confirmed September 2021; served until January 2025)
  • General Counsel, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
  • Deputy General Counsel, Office of the Director of National Intelligence
  • Colonel, U.S. Air Force Reserve (retired)

Background

Career intelligence lawyer who became acting Inspector General of the Intelligence Community in April 2020 after President Trump removed Michael Atkinson, and was confirmed to the post by Senate voice vote on 30 September 2021. He previously served as general counsel of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and as deputy general counsel at ODNI, and retired from the Air Force Reserve as a colonel. His relevance to the disclosure process is procedural: his office received David Grusch's whistleblower complaint in 2022, deemed it credible and urgent, referred it to the DNI and the intelligence committees, and later briefed House Oversight members in a classified setting. He resigned effective 3 January 2025. Christopher Fox, confirmed on 7 October 2025, now holds the post.

On the record

  • 2024-11-13 – statement to POGO on his departure – "On November 13, I informed the President of my intent to resign as the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community (IC IG), effective January 3, 2025." POGO
  • 2024-01-12 – classified briefing to members of the House Oversight national security subcommittee on Grusch's allegations, in his official capacity. Members could not repeat what they heard. Rep. Moskowitz called it "the first real briefing that we've had", and Rep. Burchett said lawmakers would keep holding briefings "until we get some answers." CBS News
  • 2022-07 – official determination, as IC IG, that Grusch's complaint was "credible and urgent", with a summary transmitted to DNI Avril Haines and the House and Senate intelligence committees (as described in Grusch's own filing and subsequent reporting). Filing (PDF) · The Debrief

Reported claims (secondary / anonymous-sourced)

  • 2025-07-25 – Rep. Eric Burlison, in an interview – said IC IG investigations prompted by Grusch's complaint had confirmed that several programmes unlawfully withheld information from Congress, while the broader UAP claims remained unconfirmed, and that the IC IG's attempts to access physical UAP evidence had been obstructed. Interview clip
  • 2023-07-30 – Sen. Marco Rubio, to Askapol – confirmed the IC IG had referred Grusch's matter to the intelligence committees as "urgent and credible". Askapol
  • 2023-06-11 – per Ross Coulthart (NewsNation) – Monheim independently investigated and corroborated Grusch's claims by speaking to other witnesses. Clip

Timeline of involvement

  • 2020-04-03 – becomes acting IC Inspector General
  • 2021-09-30 – Senate confirms him as IC IG
  • 2022-05-25 – Grusch's Disclosure of Urgent Concern and reprisal complaint filed with his office
  • 2022-07 – complaint deemed "credible and urgent", summary sent to DNI Haines, HPSCI and SSCI
  • 2023-08-22 – six House members (Burchett, Luna, Moskowitz, Burlison, Mace, Ogles) write to him asking which IC elements, facilities and actors are involved in UAP crash-retrieval and reverse-engineering programmes (letter, Burchett post)
  • 2024-01-12 – briefs House Oversight members in a classified session
  • 2024-11-13 – informs the President of his intent to resign
  • 2025-01-03 – leaves office
  • 2025-10-07 – Christopher Fox confirmed as his successor

Part of the Key People in Disclosure series. Verified 2026-10-10. Spotted an error? Reach out.