Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, accused the Trump administration on Thursday of politicizing intelligence and undermining national security professionals inside the government.
Speaking on the Senate floor, Mr. Warner, the vice chairman of the committee, said the actions of the Trump administration were undermining the independence of the Central Intelligence Agency. He said cuts and firings inside the nation’s intelligence agencies were “dismantling trust in institutions that literally took generations to build,” undermining morale and threatening the ability of analysts to deliver unvarnished, apolitical analysis to the White House.
“Why is this administration going to war against the very professionals sworn to keep our country safe,” Mr. Warner asked in remarks on the Senate floor. “Why are decades of service and sacrifice tossed aside? Well I think because they believe still they are obliged to provide the truth and speak truth to power.”
During Tulsi Gabbard’s confirmation hearing to become the director of national intelligence, Mr. Warner said, she made repeated promises to depoliticize the spy agencies. And she cited the flawed information about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction before the U.S. invasion of the dangers when intelligence is bent to agree with policymakers.
“She pledged that she would never allow those mistakes to be repeated on her watch,” Mr. Warner said in his speech on Thursday.
But since her confirmation, Mr. Warner has said Ms. Gabbard has done the opposite.
“Careers were ended, and decades of expertise were discarded, just for doing the job they were entrusted to,” he said.
He went on to note that the acting chair of the National Intelligence Council had been dismissed after issuing a report on the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua that conflicted with the Trump administration’s statements. Mr. Warner added that Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse was pushed out from the Defense Intelligence Agency last month after his agency produced an assessment of Iran’s nuclear program that contradicted Mr. Trump’s contention that it had been “obliterated” by U.S. strikes.
“Rather than face those facts, the administration decided to punish the messenger,” Mr. Warner said.
Aides to Ms. Gabbard have repeatedly denied accusations that they are politicizing intelligence. They have instead argued that Ms. Gabbard is trying to promote politically neutral people, removing people who are not using “common sense” in their intelligence analysis.
But what disturbed Mr. Warner most, he said, was that Laura Loomer, a far-right conspiracy theorist who holds no official role in the Trump administration, appeared to be dictating who would lose their job inside national security agencies. In early April, at Ms. Loomer’s recommendation, Mr. Trump fired six important staff members at the National Security Council because, she said, they were not pure enough in their adherence to the president’s worldview.
“This is not someone with even a shred of credibility, let alone the experience or judgment we should demand from those influencing U.S. national security decisions,” Mr. Warner said of Ms. Loomer. “Yet time and again, we have seen senior officials pushed out of their posts because Ms. Loomer decided they were not sufficiently loyal to the president.”
Mr. Warner said that it was in the interest of both Democrats and Republicans to remove politics from the intelligence agencies.
“If we continue to allow politics dictate what intelligence is acceptable,” he said, “we are effectively flying blind.”
Julian E. Barnes covers the U.S. intelligence agencies and international security matters for The Times. He has written about security issues for more than two decades.
Chris Cameron is a Times reporter covering Washington, focusing on breaking news and the Trump administration.
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