SCOOP: Congressional Republicans back Gabbard's "efforts to restore accountability, rebuild trust" at DNI

Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard’s reorganization of her office is ruffling feathers of Democrats on Capitol Hill, but one top Republican on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence exclusively told the Washington Reporter that he supports Gabbard’s “efforts to restore accountability, rebuild trust, and ensure our national security professionals stay focused on their duty to the nation.”

“The politicization of our intelligence agencies is deeply troubling and undermines trust in the institutions tasked with protecting our national security,” Rep. Ben Cline (R., Va.) told the Reporter.

“I’m here for this,” Sen. Mike Lee (R., Utah) added about Gabbard’s efforts.

Some Democrats on the Hill, including Rep. Jim Himes (D., Conn.) — the top Democrat on the Intel Committee, took issue with the “apparent removal of senior leadership at the National Intelligence Council [NIC] without any explanation except vague accusations made in the media.”

“Absent evidence to justify the firings, the workforce can only conclude that their jobs are contingent on producing analysis that is aligned with the President’s agenda, rather than truthful and apolitical,” Himes said.

Gabbard and her team argue there is plenty of evidence to justify the firings.

“These Biden holdovers were dismissed because they politicized intelligence,” Alexa Henning, the DNI’s Deputy Chief of Staff, said.

The firings occurred after an NIC product leaked, “which is against the law,” she added.

Some coverage of Gabbard’s latest firings, like that in the Washington Post, implies that Gabbard fired top NIC officials out of anger that an NIC assessment about ties between Venezuela’s government and Tren de Aragua leaked.

“That’s wrong but who cares about facts,” Henning noted to a Post reporter’s post about the article.

“You are genuinely bad at your job but that is likely a prerequisite for WaPo,” she added.

“The Washington Post's characterization of the story is incorrect,” a DNI official told the Reporter. “It ignores the fact that the assessment, which is a product of the National Intelligence Council, was illegally leaked.”

“DNI Gabbard has already referred three leaks to the Department of Justice and ODNI is currently conducting internal investigations on 12 more,” the official said. “The Director also pledged to provide President Trump with the most timely, accurate, and unbiased intelligence available.”

“She dismissed these individuals because they were unable to provide unbiased intelligence,” the official added.

Gabbard’s consolidation of intelligence assessment also included moving the assembly of the president’s daily intelligence brief from the CIA building to the DNI’s locale.

While this struck some as controversial, “the DNI has always controlled the PDB,” an official explained.

“She is just moving it physically to ODNI from CIA in a streamlining effort and a continuity of workforce,” the official said. “The PDB staff and the NIC are the primary apparatus that feeds her this advisory material, so moving them physically closer gives her the best support.”