On June 5, 2023 The Debrief published a story by Leslie Kean and Ralph Blumenthal reporting that intelligence officials had told Congress the U.S. had retrieved craft of non-human origin, citing former intelligence officer David Grusch as the named source.

The Debrief story was journalism. Grusch's actual sworn testimony came seven weeks later at the July 26, 2023 House Oversight hearing, which IS a government disclosure event. The Debrief story's role was setting up the hearing; the substantive disclosure was the testimony, not the article.