Tulsi Gabbard

Is tackling the “politicization” of the U.S. intelligence sector by dismissing high-ranking permanent staff members reportedly involved in unauthorized disclosures to journalists.

On Tuesday, Fox News revealed that two officials from the National Intelligence Council were dismissed. The individuals affected include Michael Collins, who serves as the interim chairman of the council, along with his senior associate, Maria Langan-Riekhoff. It appears that an additional twelve people are being investigated for potential leaks, raising suspicions about their involvement.

Gabbard plans to have the National Intelligence Council become part of the Office of the

Director of National Intelligence

(ODNI) in McLean, Virginia, disclosed this information to Oversight Authorities, as reported by Fox News.

The conservative news outlet additionally relayed information from high-ranking officials who informed Fox News that Collins was reportedly subject to an inquiry for supposedly “intentionally destabilizing the impending Trump administration” during the transitional phase. Separately, one official described her deputy, Langan-Riekhoff, as someone advocating strongly for diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives but did not provide specific instances.

Meanwhile,
The Washington Post
reported that the pair were potentially targeted for a different reason: issuance of a memorandum that firmly rejected the Trump administration’s political narrative surrounding immigration and violent drug-related crime hailing from

Venezuela

. The

White House

Other administration officials maintain that Tren de Aragua, a dangerous drug trafficking organization highlighted by the Trump administration amid increased deportation efforts across the country, may be functioning with support from, or even guidance by, Venezuela’s government.

However, a document initially uncovered by the
Post
last week states that “the

Maduro

The regime likely does not have a strategy for working together with Tren de Aragua and is not controlling their activities or movements within the United States.

The memorandum, titled “A Sense of the Community Memorandum,” was released by the National Intelligence Council and written by the National Intelligence Officer responsible for the Western Hemisphere. This report offered harsh criticisms of the Maduro administration, which the U.S. refuses to acknowledge as having won fair elections.

It called the Venezuelan government unable to control the extent of the country’s territory and generally willing to cooperate with armed groups to ensure security. It also highlighted the role that low-level government officials take in facilitating Tren de Aragua’s operations and profiting from the gang’s illicit businesses. In some cases, the document said, low-level military and federal officials may cooperate with Tren de Aragua, such as during a 2023 prison raid in which the gang’s leadership escaped, but in general was dismissive of a core part of the MAGA-world narrative: the description of migration through the US southern border as an “invasion” from Venezuela or other countries.

Venezuela’s lenient atmosphere permits Tren de Aragua to function,” stated the intelligence report. However, it went on to say, “the [intelligence community] has not seen evidence of the regime instructing [Tren de Aragua] to send migrants toward the United States.

The
Post
reported that there was no indication that either Collins or Langan-Riekhof had a “direct role” in the memorandum’s publication. But Gabbard’s deputy chief of staff denied that premise entirely on Wednesday as she responded to a
Post
reporter who tweeted that the firings came after “the council authored an assessment that contradicted Trump’s rationale for invoking the Alien Enemies Act”. The administration’s use of that law, passed in 1798 to regulate the activities of noncitizens during wartime, marks only the fourth time it has been invoked in the nation’s history.

“No one from ODNI told you that, so of course you inject your own politically motivated opinion. That’s wrong but who cares about facts, right? These Biden holdovers were dismissed because they politicized intelligence,” tweeted Alexa Henning, Gabbard’s deputy chief of staff.


Gabbard’s efforts to weed out officials suspected of leaking to the media — a problem that vexed Trump and his team during his first presidency — has gone on for weeks, if not longer.

“It takes time to weed them out and fire them,” one ODNI official told Fox News, describing Gabbard’s enemies as “career bureaucrats that are entrenched in Washington politics,” and “

Deep State

holdovers” supposedly responsible for “trying to sabotage President Trump’s agenda.”

Staffers on her team separately told Fox News in late April that Gabbard issued criminal referrals for three senior intelligence community officials to the

Justice Department

for allegedly leaking classified information to reporters at the
Post
and another news outlet; it wasn’t immediately clear if those referrals included Collins and/or Langan-Riekhof.

“Politicization of our intelligence and leaking classified information puts our nation’s security at risk and must end,” said Gabbard in April. “Those who leak classified information will be found and held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. […] These deep-state criminals leaked classified information for partisan political purposes to undermine President Trump’s agenda.”

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