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Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard has revoked the security clearances of 37 current and former intelligence professionals.
Gabbard revoked their clearances at the direction of U.S. President Donald Trump, accusing the officials of politicizing and manipulating intelligence.
She further alleged they had leaked classified information, failed to safeguard information, and did not adhere to professional analytic tradecraft standards.
- Tulsi Gabbard revoked security clearances for 37 intel officials at President Trump's direction, citing politicization and leaks of classified data.
- Tulsi Gabbard accused the officials of betraying their oath and undermining national security, but provided no evidence in the memo supporting her claims.
- Several targeted officials worked on the 2016 Russiagate probe and included members of Joe Biden’s National Security Council.
- Gabbard declassified documents claiming the 2017 Russia interference report was fabricated to delegitimize Trump’s election win.
- Previously, Barack Obama’s office vehemently rejected Gabbard’s allegations, calling them misinformation and a weak distraction from established election interference findings.
Donald Trump directed Tulsi Gabbard to revoke security clearances for 37 intel employees
Image credits: Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post via Getty Images
There was no evidence included in the memo to prove those claims.
“Being entrusted with a security clearance is a privilege, not a right,” Gabbard wrote on X as she shared a memo sent to national security agencies.
“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 doing so, they undermine our national security, the safety and security of the American people and the foundational principles of our democratic republic.”
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
Some of the 37 officials named in the document were members of former President Joe Biden’s National Security Council, according to CNN.
At least two of the people on the list, Stephanie O’Sullivan and Maher Bitar, had recently been named on social media by right-wing activist Laura Loomer.
Others worked on a review of the 2016 Russiagate probe that looked into Kremlin interference in the presidential election.
Gabbard has referred Obama-era officials who worked on that probe to the Department of Justice over claims they “manufactured and politicized intelligence.”
Image credits: The White House
The review was published in 2017 and it concluded that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election to help Trump defeat candidate Hillary Clinton.
Its findings were supported by a 2020 bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee report.
Last month, Gabbard declassified documents that she claimed proved the 2017 report was not credible and was used to delegitimize Trump’s presidential victory.
Those claims have been highly disputed, and Democrats have accused Gabbard of weaponizing her position to punish Trump’s perceived political enemies.
Image credits: Scott Olson/Getty Images
Speaking to Sean Hannity on Fox News after announcing the security clearance revocations, Gabbard again addressed those documents.
She confirmed that there were intelligence community findings that suggested Russia had been attempting to cause chaos and interference in the 2016 election.
But the Trump administration’s view diverges from the bipartisan reports, asserting that Russia showed no preference for either Trump or Clinton as candidates.
She told Hannity that leading up to the 2016 election, the intelligence community had stated “Russia did not appear to have any preference for one candidate over the other.”
Gabbard claims there were ‘deep state actors’ trying to influence the elections
Image credits: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Gabbard claimed that former President Barack Obama directed then-DNI James Clapper and then-CIA Director John Brennan to come up with a new assessment that “contradicted the ones that had been produced previously.”
She said this was done using “shoddy intelligence” that intelligence officials had refused to use previously because it was “substandard.”
“It is all in hundreds of pages of documents that I’ve declassified and released that show point by point exactly what happened through this timeline, that showed this very dangerous thing that occurred in the creation of Russiagate, the creation of this manufactured intelligence assessment that essentially had the intent of undermining the voices and votes of the American people who elected Donald Trump,” Gabbard said.
Image credits: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Gabbard also agreed with Hannity’s claim that there were “deep state actors” trying to influence the U.S. elections.
“There are bad actors that have to be rooted out, our national security depends on it. The ability for the American people’s trust to be earned back depends on exposing the bad actors and holding them accountable,” she said.
Those claims have been sharply rejected by Obama’s office, which said there was nothing in the declassified documents that “undercuts the widely accepted conclusion that Russia worked to influence the 2016 presidential election but did not successfully manipulate any votes.”
“Out of respect for the office of the presidency, our office does not normally dignify the constant nonsense and misinformation flowing out of this White House with a response,” Obama’s office added.
“But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one. These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction.”
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