37 National Security Officials Have Security Clearances Revoked: Director Tulsi Gabbard Accuses of Politicization and Weaponization of Intelligence
The Director of National Intelligence (DNI), Tulsi Gabbard, has rescinded security clearances for at least 37 current and former national security officials, according to a memo obtained by CNN. Among those affected are individuals who were involved in investigating Russia’s attempts to interfere in the 2016 election and members of former President Joe Biden’s National Security Council.
The revocations, first reported by the New York Post, were confirmed by Gabbard on Tuesday via an X post, stating that those who betray their oath to the Constitution and prioritize personal or partisan interests over national security priorities have broken a sacred trust.
The memo, which does not cite specific evidence of misconduct, was circulated to multiple US intelligence community agencies on Monday. It accuses the impacted individuals of politicizing or weaponizing intelligence to advance non-objective agendas inconsistent with national security priorities and failing to protect classified information.
The memo’s recipients held positions across various government agencies, but it remains unclear whether all still held active clearances at the time of Gabbard’s announcement.
Gabbard’s move is part of a series of actions by senior Trump administration officials aimed at discrediting the intelligence community’s 2017 assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election to support Trump and penalizing those involved.
Critics argue that Gabbard and President Trump are using the Russia investigation documents to divert attention from other issues, such as the Jeffrey Epstein files, and to punish domestic political enemies.
However, some critics also claim that Gabbard’s efforts to depoliticize the intelligence community by revoking clearances from certain officials, including those who have been public critics of President Trump, instead appear to be weaponizing it against perceived political adversaries at home.
Mark Zaid, a national security attorney whose own security clearance was previously revoked by Trump, condemned these decisions as unlawful and unconstitutional. He further noted that the administration’s claims of politicization or weaponization of intelligence by others seem hypocritical.