US intel shake-up: Gabbard acts on Trump’s orders, dozens lose security access
Donald Trump, President of the US (photo: Getty Images)
US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has revoked security clearances for 37 current and former employees, reports Reuters.
On August 19, Tulsi Gabbard announced that she had revoked security clearances for 37 current and former US intelligence officials.
The individuals were accused, under the directive of President Donald Trump, of politicizing and manipulating intelligence.
In a social media statement, Gabbard said the decision was made at Trump’s instruction. She has repeatedly claimed that US intelligence agencies have become a weapon in domestic political battles. Last month, the US Department of Justice even announced the creation of a special team to investigate her claims.
Earlier, Gabbard threatened to submit cases to the Justice Department against former high-ranking officials from Democrat Barack Obama’s administration, whom she accused of distorting assessments of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Trump also repeatedly, without evidence, claimed that Obama allegedly tried to fabricate his ties to the Kremlin to undermine his presidential campaign. Obama’s representatives called these claims absurd and politically motivated.
The list of people stripped of access to classified information includes not only former intelligence officers but also, notably, the former National Security Council spokesperson under Obama and the coordinator of the global COVID-19 response under Joe Biden. It is currently unclear if all of them were intelligence personnel. Officials from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment on the details.
Gabbard alleges that in 2016, high-ranking Obama-era officials orchestrated a traitorous conspiracy to undermine Trump’s campaign. Democrats reject these accusations as baseless.
The official US intelligence assessment released in January 2017 concluded that Russia, through social media campaigns, hacking, and bot activity, sought to weaken Hillary Clinton’s position and help Trump. Experts, however, determined that these actions did not significantly affect the election outcome. Moscow denies any interference in the US elections.
During his visit to the US, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed possible scenarios for a peaceful resolution of the war with Trump. The Ukrainian leader did not rule out that territorial exchanges could appear on the agenda.
