Gabbard fires intelligence chiefs after Venezuela report

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard

'Whatever the administration is trying to protect, it's not our national security'

(Image credit: Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images)

What happened

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard Wednesday removed the top two officials at the National Intelligence Council, weeks after the council published an assessment that undercut President Donald Trump's legal rationale for using the wartime Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members without due process.

Who said what

The dismissal of Michael Collins, acting chair of the National Intelligence Council, and vice chair Maria Langan-Riekhof is "the latest purge by Gabbard, who has said she is fighting politicization of the intelligence community but has removed or sidelined officials perceived to not support Trump's political agenda," The Washington Post said. The NIC is the top "analytical group in the intelligence community whose job it is to understand and assess the biggest threats facing the United States," CNN said.

An April 7 "Sense of the Community Memorandum" from the NIC found a broad consensus among intelligence agencies that the Tren de Aragua gang was not being directed or managed by the Venezuelan government. That finding, released last week through the Freedom of Information Act, contradicted Trump's assertion that the gang had staged an "invasion" of the U.S. "at the direction of" the Venezuelan government.

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Gabbard is "purging intelligence officials over a report that the Trump administration finds politically inconvenient," Sen. Mark Warner (Va.), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Community, told the Post. "Whatever the administration is trying to protect, it's not our national security."

What next?

Gabbard also informed the CIA she was moving the NIC and the office that produces the President's Daily Brief into her office. The move is part of her effort to "shore up the role of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence" as Trump "has openly mused to aides" about whether the office "should continue to exist," The New York Times said. Collins, a veteran senior CIA officer "known for his expertise on China," has "been sent back to the CIA."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.