Tulsi Gabbard’s ‘Depoliticizing’ Effort Targets 37 National Security Officials

India-West News Desk

WASHINGTON, D.C.- Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has revoked the security clearances of at least 37 current and former national security officials. A memo obtained by CNN states that the revocations were due to the “politicization or weaponization of intelligence to advance personal, partisan, or non-objective agendas.”

The impacted individuals include those involved in the 2017 intelligence assessment on Russian interference in the 2016 election, as well as members of former President Joe Biden’s National Security Council. Most of those affected are not widely known, CNN said.

The action, first reported by the New York Post, was confirmed by Gabbard in an X post. “Being entrusted with a security clearance is a privilege, not a right,” she wrote. “Those in the Intelligence Community who betray their oath to the Constitution… have broken the sacred trust they promised to uphold.”

The DNI memo, circulated on August 18, also accuses the officials of failing to protect classified information and unprofessional intelligence assessment tradecraft, but does not provide specific evidence of wrongdoing.

This move is the latest in a series of actions by senior Trump administration officials targeting the 2017 assessment that Russia sought to help Trump win the 2016 election. In July, Gabbard released documents and made criminal referrals to the Department of Justice, alleging a “treasonous conspiracy” by the Obama administration.

Critics say Gabbard’s actions are not “depoliticizing” the intelligence community, but rather weaponizing it against the president’s perceived enemies.