(NewsNation) — NewsNation’s exclusive interview with UFO whistleblower David Grusch sparked international attention with his claim the U.S. government has secretly been in possession of nonhuman spacecraft. Investigative journalist Ross Coulthart says Grusch believes the government may now be behind an effort to release his medical records in an effort to smear his credibility.

In a statement to NewsNation, Grusch said he learned The Intercept intends to publish an article that highlights previous struggles he had with post traumatic stress disorder, grief and depression, specifically incidents in 2014 and 2018. Coulthart thinks someone in the intelligence community leaked Grusch’s medical records to the outlet.

“A temporary detention order transferred (Grusch) to a psychiatric unit and inpatient program where he got the treatment that he needed. This is a document, that if the media had done the right thing, would be in his police department file in the county sheriff’s office,” Coulthart told NewsNation host Chris Cuomo on Tuesday.

Coulthart continued: “Dave checked today because he assumed that the journalist had done his homework and just asked the local sheriff for the files. The sheriff has confirmed it did not come from him. The only other place that had this information is the intelligence community. (…) The intelligence community leaked it.”

During his interview with Coulthart, the UFO whistleblower volunteered the information about his previous mental health issue.

“When I asked him whether there was any dirt that anybody could drag out to try to discredit him, he barely thought it was worth mentioning but he acknowledged that he’d suffered from PTSD when he returned from Afghanistan,” Coulthart said. “David served his country honorably and with distinction. He’s a decorated officer.”

In his own statement, Grusch said he struggled after coming home from Afghanistan and with the loss of a friend.

“I was personally affected again years later when a close friend of mine, an intelligence officer who was serving in Air Force Special Operations Command at the time, took his own life shortly after we last spoke,” Grusch said. “I am proud to be transparent on this matter and am glad I got the help I needed to continue my intelligence career.”

With the information about Grusch experiencing PTSD, the Department of Defense allowed Grusch to keep his security clearance.

“The intelligence community and the Defense Department clearly accepted that there was no issue because he was allowed to keep his security clearance,” Coulthart said.

Grusch told Coulthart that PTSD doesn’t affect him anymore and that it has not impacted the information he has come forward with about UFOs. Coulthart believes there should be an investigation into how Grusch’s records were shared.

“For anyone to seek to use the suffering of veterans, people who are dealing with PTSD, is utterly reprehensible. It’s contemptible and it should be exposed,” Coulthart said. “There should be an investigation into how a sensitive file like this was so obviously leaked within the intelligence community to try and discredit a good human being.”

Grusch, a former Air Force officer and intelligence official, recently testified before Congress that the U.S. has a secret UFO retrieval program and that people have been harmed in government cover-ups of UFO technology.