Tulsi Gabbard fires more than 100 intelligence officers over messages in a chat tool
The discussions went beyond work to sexual themes and political messages.
Tulsi Gabbard at her confirmation hearing for director of national intelligence on Jan. 30.Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images fil
Feb. 26, 2025, 2:21 PM EST
By Dan De Luce
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has fired more than 100 intelligence officers from 15 agencies for using a government chat platform for discussions that included topics like polyamory, gender transition surgery and politics.
“I put out a directive today that they all will be terminated and their security clearances will be revoked,” Gabbard told Fox News on Tuesday.
The chat tool was overseen by the National Security Agency, according to Gabbard. Each intelligence agency has internal collaboration chat tools, former intelligence officials said.
Gabbard said the fired intelligence officers’ conduct represented “an egregious violation of trust” and violated “basic rules and standards around professionalism.”
Christopher Rufo, a conservative commentator who writes for City Journal, first reported the existence of the chats. Rufo posted what he said were transcripts of the conversations, which he said were obtained from a NSA employee and a former employee.
Gabbard, according to a social media post by her spokeswoman, sent a memo directing all intelligence agencies to identify the employees who participated in the chatrooms and to terminate their employment and revoke their security clearances.
The transcripts included some political discussion, including a few people criticizing Gabbard and three people celebrating the death of televangelist and former Republican presidential candidate Pat Robertson in 2023.
Gabbard told Fox News the terminations were part of a wider effort to ferret out bad actors in the spy agencies and restore the public’s trust in the intelligence community.
“So today’s action and holding these individuals accountable is just the beginning of what we’re seeing across the Trump administration, which is carrying out the mandate the American people gave him, clean house, root out that rot and corruption and weaponization and politicization,” she said.
Tulsi Gabbard fires more than 100 intelligence officers over messages in a chat tool
Tulsi Gabbard said she fired more than 100 intel officers for using a government chat tool to discuss topics including polyamory, gender transition, and their political views.
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