The country’s National Intelligence Council (NIC) contradicted President Donald Trump’s justification for mass deportations. A few weeks later, Tulsi Gabbard fired its top leaders.
Director of National Intelligence Gabbard booted Michael Collins, the acting chair of the NIC, and his deputy Maria Langan-Riekhof, The Washington Post reported Wednesday. The duo were part of a group that dared to defy the president’s rationale for invoking the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 measure he used to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members without due process.
Trump invoked the 18th century wartime act in March, claiming that the Tren de Aragua gang was invading the country “at the direction” of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s government. But key White House officials disagreed, and they quickly made their dissent clear.
The NIC wrote a partially declassified assessment on April 7 that found the Venezuelan government is likely not overseeing Tren de Aragua’s actions in the U.S., directly countering Trump’s claim. After that, the assessors were probably on thin ice.
The report states that it was prepared by the National Intelligence Officer for the Western Hemisphere, and it is unclear of Collins and Langan-Riekhof’s roles in drafting it. But Gabbard wanted them out fast—and within weeks, they were laid off.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
“The Director is working alongside President Trump to end the weaponization and politicization of the Intelligence Community,” the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) spokesperson said when asked about the firings, which were first reported by Fox News.
Some Democrats, however, were alarmed by the sudden expulsions. Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said that he was “concerned” about the incident, especially “without any explanation except vague accusations made in the media.”
“Absent evidence to justify the firings, the workforce can only conclude that their jobs are contingent on producing analysis that is aligned with the President’s agenda, rather than truthful and apolitical,” he added.
The NIC is the leading U.S. body for analyzing classified intelligence and providing private assessments to the president and other top officials. For instance, other reports include global threat assessments from spy agencies or info about how COVID started.
Jonathan Panikoff, the former deputy national intelligence officer, wrote on X that the organization is “the heartbeat of apolitical US all-source analysis” and “anything that reduces its independence because policymakers don’t like the independent conclusions it reaches, is the definition of politicization they are decrying.”
He called the fired duo “unbelievable leaders… not political actors.”
But Gabbard is on a crusade to rid intelligence agencies of any disloyalty. In February, she fired more than 100 intelligence officers from 15 agencies after they discussed topics like polyamory, gender transition surgery, and politics on a government chat platform.
In April, she asked the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate alleged leaks by people in the intelligence community she called “deep-state criminals.” The top Democrat on the Senate’s intelligence committee, Mark Warner of Virginia, called Gabbard‘s purge a “witch hunt.”
Gabbard blasted the NIC assessment for “twisting and manipulating intelligence assessments to undermine the president’s agenda to keep the American people safe.”
The FBI was the only agency which partially debated the study’s findings, saying that some Venezuelan officials facilitate certain gang members’ migrations to the United States and use Tren de Aragua as a way to advance the government’s aims.
Gabbard recently told MAGA podcaster Megyn Kelly that there are 11 internal investigations into media disclosures that were not permitted and she has sent three cases to the DOJ for potential prosecution.
“The only way we bring about accountability is by doing the work of conducting these investigations,” she added.
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