Members of Donald Trump’s inner circle have had it with Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
The president’s aides are claiming the 44-year-old blindsided them when she publicly stripped 37 current and former officials of their security clearances last month, the Guardian reported.
On Aug. 19, Gabbard wrote on X that she was acting under Trump’s direction to revoke the security clearances of the 37 individuals, including those who had supported Trump’s first impeachment trial or concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 election.
“Being entrusted with a security clearance is a privilege, not a right,” Gabbard wrote. “Those in the Intelligence Community who betray their oath to the Constitution and put their own interests ahead of the interests of the American people have broken the sacred trust they promised to uphold.”
Being entrusted with a security clearance is a privilege, not a right. Those in the Intelligence Community who betray their oath to the Constitution and put their own interests ahead of the interests of the American people have broken the sacred trust they promised to uphold. In… pic.twitter.com/23DUNuVAi0
— DNI Tulsi Gabbard (@DNIGabbard) August 19, 2025
But Trump’s aides told the Guardian that Gabbard’s deputy chief of staff, Alexa Henning, didn’t disclose how the list was compiled or the underlying evidence that led to pulling the security clearances before sharing it with her 762,000 followers—leaving staffers “deeply frustrated.”
Only after Gabbard made the list public did they realize she had stripped deputies to the CIA director, John Ratcliffe, of security clearances.
The director’s office also sent the list to the CIA the night before making it public, the Guardian reported—despite publicly naming those deputies and at least one officer who was working undercover at the time.
Knowingly revealing the identity of a covert U.S. intelligence officer or agent is a felony, though it is unclear whether the law applies to disclosures made by government officials.
A senior intelligence official, however, pushed back on claims that Gabbard acted of her own accord, the Guardian reported.
The official said Gabbard told Trump in the Oval Office that she had compiled names of those who worked on the intelligence assessments on Russia’s malign influence operations during the 2016 election.
Trump reportedly told Gabbard those people should be removed, the intelligence official said.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence for comment.
In a statement to the Guardian, a White House spokesperson did not address whether there had been advance notice or when the emails were sent but said Gabbard was doing a “phenomenal job” and that the White House “has worked closely with her on implementing the President’s objectives.”
“The entire administration is aligned on ensuring those who have weaponized their clearances to manipulate intelligence, leak classified intelligence without authorization, and many other egregious acts are held to account,” the spokesperson added.
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