Donald Trump’s closest aides are fuming over a surprise move by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, according to the Guardian.
Last month, Gabbard announced she had revoked the security clearances of 37 current and former officials. She posted the news on X on Aug. 19, saying she acted under Trump’s direction. The list targeted individuals who supported Trump’s first impeachment 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.”
The problem, Trump’s staffers told The Guardian, is that Gabbard’s team never shared how the list was compiled or the evidence used to justify it. Her deputy chief of staff, Alexa Henning, didn’t give aides warning before posting it to her 762,000 followers.
Only after it went public did they realize the clearances of senior CIA deputies, including allies of former intelligence director John Ratcliffe, were also stripped. One name on the list even belonged to an officer who was working undercover at the time. Publicly revealing a covert officer’s identity can be a felony, though it’s unclear if that applies to disclosures made by senior government officials.
According to the Guardian, the director’s office had sent the list to the CIA just the night before it was released publicly. That decision left aides blindsided and deeply frustrated.
Not everyone agrees with the idea that Gabbard went rogue. A senior intelligence official told The Guardian that Gabbard met with Trump in the Oval Office, where she presented the names of officials who had worked on assessments of Russian interference in the 2016 election. The official said Trump responded by telling her those people should be removed.
The White House has not denied that Gabbard acted with the president’s backing. When asked for comment, a spokesperson didn’t say whether aides had any advance notice but praised Gabbard’s performance.
Gabbard is doing a “phenomenal job,” the spokesperson told the Guardian, adding that the White House has worked closely with her to carry out Trump’s goals.
“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 said.
The Daily Beast reached out to both the White House and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence for additional comment.
The fallout inside Trump’s circle, though, shows how much friction the move has created. What was meant as a show of loyalty and toughness against Trump’s critics has turned into an internal headache, leaving aides worried about the legal and political risks of how the list was handled.