Gabbard Revokes Security Clearances of 37 Intelligence Officials Without Evidence

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard revoked security clearances of 37 current and former intelligence officials, including three currently serving officers, accusing them of ‘politicizing intelligence’ without providing evidence. Gabbard acknowledged Trump personally directed the revocations in a public social media post.

Context: Among those targeted were Biden administration officials including Maher Bitar, who worked on Trump’s first impeachment. The memo accused officials of failing to safeguard classified information and violating analytic tradecraft standards but provided no supporting evidence. Lawyers said the public release may have broken the law. The action follows a pattern of discrediting the 2017 intelligence assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to support Trump.

Significance: Revoking clearances of serving intelligence officers for following proper investigative procedures punishes professionals for upholding the law rather than political loyalty. Publishing accusations without evidence weaponizes classification authority to intimidate the intelligence community. The purge removes experts who documented Russian interference, enabling future manipulation and compromising national security to serve political vendettas.