2026-07-27T09:00:00.000Z / 《华盛顿邮报》
据此前未被报道的警方记录显示，上月将前交通部长皮特·布蒂吉格与其年幼双胞胎子女分开的官员，依据的是一名举报人的模糊且未经证实的指控，而当局后来认定该举报人可能“精神不稳定”。
这些由《华盛顿邮报》获得的记录，以及对这位疑似举报人的采访，最详细地披露了一条虚假线索如何将调查人员引向美国最知名民主党人之一的家中，引发了两党众怒。
应《邮报》要求审阅这些文件的儿童福利专家表示，此事暴露了存在缺陷的流程，而各机构的判断失误以及两个州调查人员之间缺乏沟通，让情况变得更糟。
密歇根州警方的报告详细记录了从指控提出到最终认定其毫无根据且可能具有政治动机的事件脉络。印第安纳州儿童福利机构接到一条热线举报，举报内容关于布蒂吉格的信息“极为有限”，该机构在通知现居密歇根州的布蒂吉格相关官员时，未提供举报人的姓名或联系方式，印第安纳州儿童福利机构称这是其政策规定。
密歇根州警方在接触布蒂吉格后等待了六天，才试图确认举报人身份。
彼时，这位印第安纳州南本德前市长、2020年总统候选人已在6月的Substack帖子中公开讲述了这一遭遇，称其为“我从政以来遇到的最恶劣事件”。
布蒂吉格回忆称，密歇根州当局最初告诉他，在次日与父母分开接受询问前，他不能单独与4岁的孩子们相处。孩子们当时住在附近的祖父母家中。布蒂吉格此前被广泛认为将再次竞选总统，他称这24小时的分离是“我人生中最黑暗的时刻之一”。
布蒂吉格表示，当局最初不愿告知他被指控的具体内容。密歇根大学法学院教授、儿童维权法律专家维韦克·桑卡兰表示，密歇根州警方仅凭如此模糊的指控就上门拜访布蒂吉格，且没有任何迹象表明儿童面临迫在眉睫的风险，这令他深感不安。
“至少可以说，这是极其糟糕的调查工作。考虑到这对这个家庭造成的伤害，我甚至会说这是鲁莽之举，”桑卡兰说道。
“这应该让我们所有人都感到警惕，”他补充道。
密歇根州警方发言人劳伦·汤普森-菲利普斯表示，调查“迅速开展，且认定指控毫无根据”，并补充称该部门“的职责是评估并确保相关儿童的安全”。
这位参议院确认的首位公开同性恋身份的内阁成员、现年44岁的布蒂吉格，此前曾因性取向以及与丈夫查斯坦收养两名子女的决定遭到部分人士攻击。报告显示，他向当局提及自己的家庭收到过“诸多威胁”，包括死亡威胁。
“对这个家庭而言，这是一段痛苦且令人愤怒的经历，”布蒂吉格的发言人肖恩·曼宁在给《邮报》的声明中说道。“他们一直在与密歇根州当局沟通，寻求对事件经过的解释，并要求相关方承担责任。”
密歇根州总检察长办公室发言人金伯利·布什告诉《邮报》，该办公室已对针对布蒂吉格的指控及其处理方式展开调查。
“常识就能看出，这起针对性举报本身明显缺乏可信度，”布什说道。“在儿童与家庭分离之前，应尽职调查，确保举报人与该家庭存在某种关联，或举报来自可信、可靠或可核实的来源。我们已要求密歇根州警方在调查完成后移交所有证据，并将全力调查所有可能导致如此公然侵犯布蒂吉格夫妇隐私的线索、政策和程序。”
密歇根州和印第安纳州警方部门以及儿童福利机构的官员拒绝回答他们在联系布蒂吉格之前采取了哪些步骤核实指控（如果有的话）。
汤普森-菲利普斯未回应关于州警方为何等待六天才向印第安纳州当局索要举报人信息的具体问题。
印第安纳州儿童服务部发言人罗恩·格林表示，该机构遵循了“既定程序”，包括不共享举报人信息。他和密歇根州儿童福利机构拒绝就布蒂吉格案具体置评。
在收到密歇根州警方报告的部分删减版本（其中提及了举报人的一篇Facebook帖子）后，《邮报》得以确认并联系了这位居住在阿拉巴马州的女性。公共记录显示，她也曾在印第安纳州居住过。
在一次电话通话中，她无法回答关于其指控的基本问题。她承认曾向当局举报过布蒂吉格，但拒绝透露向谁举报。
《邮报》未透露该女性的姓名，因为不清楚她是否完全知晓自己是在与媒体进行公开录音采访。当被要求用日期、文件和其他具体细节佐证其指控时，她未予回应，反而指责记者与布蒂吉格串通掩盖事实。
密歇根州警方报告对举报人的姓名和指控细节进行了删减，但该女性对《邮报》的表述与布蒂吉格向当局讲述的内容以及警方报告中的非公开细节相符，包括她称曾在阿拉巴马州佛罗伦斯这座小城见过布蒂吉格。
密歇根州当局在调查期间询问布蒂吉格是否在2021年至2023年间的任何时候前往过佛罗伦斯，其律师在查阅旅行记录后向他们确认他并未去过。
该女性表示，一名印第安纳州州警后来致电她，并称她在“骚扰”她。印第安纳州警方发言人罗恩·加拉维兹证实，目前正在对一起虚假举报指控展开调查，但表示无法进一步置评。
密歇根州警方发言人汤普森-菲利普斯表示，该机构将交由印第安纳州方面确认举报人身份，随后将“评估是否有必要提出任何指控”。
布蒂吉格调查的经过
密歇根州总检察长办公室的发言人表示，当局必须在认真对待儿童虐待指控与防止举报系统被滥用之间取得平衡。该办公室对布蒂吉格案的调查还旨在降低“针对其他知名居民和民选官员的儿童虐待虚假指控成为新型威胁或恐吓手段”的风险，该发言人说道。
根据印第安纳州法律，任何怀疑儿童遭受虐待的人都必须进行举报，儿童服务部必须在24小时内启动评估。在密歇根州，儿童保护服务调查必须在收到举报后“24小时内启动”，通常包括与涉嫌受害者和施暴者进行面对面访谈，以及查看儿童的住所。
布蒂吉格案涉及跨州多机构协作的额外复杂性。密歇根州警方报告部分详细记录了双方的互动和信息共享情况。
印第安纳州警方于6月22日得知该女性的举报。他们于6月23日通知了密歇根州当局，促使一名密歇根州州警和儿童福利官员于当日晚些时候拜访布蒂吉格。
在Substack帖子中，布蒂吉格表示，他未被告知针对自己的指控细节，且被告知需留在酒店或将孩子送到亲戚家，直到次日才能接受询问。布蒂吉格和未被指控有不当行为的丈夫决定将4岁的双胞胎送到祖父母家中。根据警方记录，孩子们于6月24日分别接受了时长一小时的单独询问，他们告诉调查人员自己感到安全。
报告显示，一名印第安纳州儿童福利工作人员在将案件转交给密歇根州之前，再次联系了举报人，但未获得新信息。这些报告未详细说明印第安纳州或密歇根州警方在拜访布蒂吉格之前是否还有其他努力核实线索的尝试。
据布蒂吉格和警方记录显示，当密歇根州调查人员约谈布蒂吉格时，他们告诉他，自己不知道指控他的人的姓名。
6月26日，布蒂吉格公开此事，密歇根州警方也公开表示针对他的指控是虚假的。
6月29日，即首次举报后的一周，一名密歇根州儿童福利工作人员告诉密歇根州州警官员，印第安纳州警方告知她，举报的可能嫌疑人是“印第安纳州一名精神不稳定的女性”。
报告显示，就在此时，密歇根州警方联系了印第安纳州同行以获取举报人身份，一名印第安纳州调查人员表示，他们将尝试约谈举报人以核实指控，并确定她是否提交了虚假报告。
印第安纳州警方未回应《邮报》关于举报人被描述为精神不稳定的相关问题。该女性未回应关于这一描述她的问题。
“这起案件暴露了举报和调查体系中的所有问题，在这个体系中没有人需要承担责任，”奥尔巴尼法学院法学教授、家庭暴力诉讼诊所主任戴尔·马戈林·塞卡说道。“一个家庭因此遭受了创伤。”
在理想的体系中，塞卡表示，印第安纳州当局本应更好地核实举报人身份，并将举报人的身份信息分享给密歇根州，而密歇根州本应自行进行核查，并拒绝处理匿名举报。
根据密歇根州警方的报告，一名调查该举报人的印第安纳州州警发现，一篇Facebook帖子显示，该女性在联系当局数周前就呼吁人们不要投票给布蒂吉格，并提及了她的指控。报告未说明该帖子被发现的时间。《邮报》查看的其他社交媒体帖子显示，该女性曾赞扬其他民主党人。
该女性告诉《邮报》，她决定向当局举报布蒂吉格是因为担心他的孩子和他的总统竞选抱负。她拒绝透露为何等待多年才举报其指控。警方报告称，她告诉印第安纳州儿童福利工作人员，自己也不知道为何等待了这么久。
与此同时，布蒂吉格在Substack帖子中表示，他一直在思考这一遭遇对他的家庭和国家意味着什么。
“尽管这一指控荒谬且明显不实，且很快被执法部门驳回，但我仍然担心它造成的伤害，”他写道。“最基本的一点是，我担心在当今世界，任何人怎么可能不尊重这一绝对基本原则：无论你对政坛中的某人有何看法，都应该将人们的孩子排除在外。”
Source of false Buttigieg allegation appeared ‘mentally unstable,’ records show
2026-07-27T09:00:00.000Z / The Washington Post
Officials who separated former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg from his young twins last month relied on a vague and unsubstantiated allegation from an accuser authorities later deemed possibly “mentally unstable,” according to previously unreported police records.
The records, obtained by The Washington Post, and an interview with the apparent complainant offer the most detailed account yet of how a false tip led investigators to the home of one of the country’s most prominent Democrats, drawing bipartisan outrage.
Child welfare experts who reviewed the documents at The Post’s request said they illuminate a flawed process that was made worse by poor judgment by agencies and a lack of communication among investigators from two states.
Michigan State Police reports detail the chain of events from the allegation to its eventual determination it was unfounded and potentially politically motivated. Indiana child welfare authorities who received a tip on a hotline with “very limited information” about Buttigieg did not pass along the caller’s name or contact information when notifying officials in Michigan, where Buttigieg now lives, which the Indiana child welfare agency says is their policy.
Michigan police waited six days after approaching Buttigieg to attempt to identify the caller.
By then, Buttigieg, a former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and 2020 presidential candidate, had gone public with the ordeal in a June Substack post, describing it as “the ugliest thing that has happened to me since my career in service began.”
Michigan authorities had told Buttigieg he could not be alone with his 4-year-old children until they could be interviewed away from their parents the next day, Buttigieg recounted. The children stayed with their grandparents who lived nearby. Buttigieg, who is widely expected to run for president again, called that 24-hour separation “among the darkest hours of my life.”
Buttigieg said the authorities initially would not tell him what he was accused of. Vivek Sankaran, a professor at the University of Michigan Law School and child advocacy law expert, said he was troubled that Michigan State Police went to Buttigieg’s door with such a vague allegation that didn’t present any indication that children were imminently at risk.
“At the very least, it’s incredibly poor investigative work. I would even say reckless, in light of how harmful this is for the family,” Sankaran said.
“It should scare all of us,” he added.
Michigan State Police spokesperson Lauren Thompson-Phillips said the investigation was “conducted promptly, and the allegations were determined to be unfounded,” adding that the department’s “responsibility was to assess and ensure the safety of the children involved.”
The first openly gay Cabinet member confirmed by the Senate, Buttigieg, 44, has faced attacks from some corners over his sexual orientation and his decision to adopt two children with his husband, Chasten. He told authorities of the “many threats” his family receives, including death threats, according to the report.
“This has been a painful and infuriating situation for the family,” Buttigieg spokesman Sean Manning said in a statement to The Post. “They are in touch with Michigan authorities, seeking answers and accountability for what happened.”
The Michigan attorney general’s office has opened an investigation of the allegation against Buttigieg and how it was handled, spokeswoman Kimberly Bush told The Post.
“Common sense would have shown that this targeted report plainly lacked credibility on its face,” Bush said. “Before children are separated from their families, due diligence should be exercised to ensure some nexus exists between the source and the family, or that the complaint comes from a reputable, reliable, or verifiable source. We have requested the Michigan State Police turn over all evidence at the completion of their investigation and will zealously investigate all leads, policies and procedures that allowed for such a flagrant violation of the Buttigiegs’ privacy.”
Officials at Michigan and Indiana state police departments and child welfare authorities declined to answer questions about what, if any, steps they took to verify the allegations before contacting Buttigieg.
Thompson-Phillips did not respond to a specific question about why state police waited six days to request information from Indiana authorities about the complainant.
Ron Green, a spokesperson for the Indiana Department of Child Services, said the agency followed “established procedures,” including not sharing information about callers. He and Michigan child welfare authorities declined to comment specifically about the Buttigieg case.
After receiving a partially redacted copy of the Michigan State Police report that referenced a Facebook post by the caller, The Post was able to identify and contact the woman, who said she lived in Alabama. Public records show she has also lived in Indiana.
In a phone call, she was unable to answer basic questions about her accusations. She acknowledged that she made reports about Buttigieg to authorities but declined to say to whom.
The Post is not naming the woman because it was unclear whether she was fully aware that she was speaking to a media outlet on the record. When asked to corroborate her claims — with dates, documents and other specifics — she did not and accused the reporter of working with Buttigieg on a cover-up.
The Michigan State Police report redacts the complainant’s name and details of the allegation, but the woman’s comments to The Post align with what Buttigieg has recounted being told by authorities and nonpublic details in the police report,including that she met him in the small city of Florence, Alabama.
Michigan authorities had asked Buttigieg during their investigation if he had traveled to Florence at any time between 2021 and 2023, and his attorney confirmed to them that he had not after reviewing travel records.
The woman said a sergeant from the Indiana State Police had since called her and was “harassing” her. Indiana State Police spokesperson Ron Galaviz confirmed an ongoing investigation of an allegation of false reporting but said he was unable to comment further.
Thompson-Phillips, the Michigan State Police spokeswoman, said the agency is deferring to Indiana to identify the accuser and will then “evaluate whether any charges are appropriate.”
How the Buttigieg investigation unfolded
Authorities must balance taking child abuse allegations seriously with preventing misuse of the reporting system, the spokesperson for the Michigan attorney general’s office said. The office’s investigation into Buttigieg’s case also aims to reduce the risk of false allegations of child abuse “against other well-known residents and elected officials as the newest form of threat or intimidation,” the spokesperson said.
Under Indiana law, anyone who suspects a child has been abused is required to make a report, and the Department of Child Services must initiate an assessment within 24 hours. In Michigan, a Children’s Protective Services investigation “must begin within 24 hours” of a report, and usually includes face-to-face interviews with the alleged victims and perpetrators, plus a viewing of the child’s home.
Buttigieg’s case involved extra complications with multiple agencies across two states. Their interactions and information sharing are partially detailed in the Michigan State Police report.
Indiana police officials learned about the woman’s call on June 22. They notified Michigan authorities on June 23, prompting a Michigan State Police trooper and child welfare official to visit Buttigieg later that day.
In his Substack post,Buttigieg said that he was not told the details of the allegations against him, and that he was told to stay at a hotel or send his children to stay with relatives until they could be interviewed the next day. Buttigieg and his husband, who was not accused of wrongdoing, made the decision to send the 4-year-old twins to their grandparents. The children sat alone for separate, hour-long interviews with investigators on June 24 and told investigators they felt safe, according to police records.
An Indiana child welfare worker contacted the caller again before referring the case to Michigan, reports show, but gained no new information. Those reports do not detail any further attempts by Indiana or Michigan police officials to vet the tip before the visit to Buttigieg.
When Michigan investigators interviewed Buttigieg, they told him they did not have the name of the person who made allegations against him, according to Buttigieg and the police records.
On June 26, Buttigieg went public, and Michigan State Police publicly said the allegation against him was false.
On June 29, a week after the initial tip, a Michigan child welfare worker told a Michigan State Police official that Indiana police informed her that the possible person who reported the allegation was a “mentally unstable woman in Indiana.”
That’s when the reports show that Michigan State Police contacted their Indiana counterparts to get the caller’s identify, and an Indiana investigator said they would try to interview her to verify the allegations and determine if she made a false report.
Indiana State Police did not answer The Post’s questions about the claim the accuser was mentally unstable. The woman did not respond to a question about this description of her.
“This case highlights everything that is wrong with a system of reporting and investigating where no one has accountability,” said Dale Margolin Cecka, professor of law and director of Albany Law’s Family Violence Litigation Clinic. “And a family is traumatized because of it.”
Under an ideal system, Cecka said, Indiana authorities would have better vetted the caller and shared the identity of the tipster with Michigan, who should have done their own vetting and declined to act on an anonymous allegation.
An Indiana state investigator who looked into the caller reported that they found a Facebook post in which she urged people not to vote for Buttigieg and referenced her accusation weeks before she contacted authorities, according to the Michigan report, which does not say when the post was found.In other social media posts viewed by The Post, the woman praised other Democrats.
The woman told The Post that she decided to contact authorities about Buttigieg because she was worried about his children and his presidential ambitions. She declined to say why she waited years to report her allegations. The police report said she told the Indiana child welfare worker she did not know why she waited.
Meanwhile, Buttigieg said in his Substack post that he is grappling with what the ordeal means for his family and his country.
”Even though the accusation was absurdly and obviously false, and was promptly rejected by law enforcement, I still worry about the harm it has done,” he wrote. “And at the most basic level, I worry about how anyone, even in today’s world, could fail to respect the absolutely fundamental principle that whatever you think about someone in politics, you leave people’s kids out of it.”
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