Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard fired two senior officials who had overseen and approved a recent analysis that contradicted President Donald Trump’s claims that the Tren de Aragua gang operates under the direction of the Venezuelan government. The report denied the U.S. leader’s claims.
The assessment undermined the legal basis used by Trump to invoke a 1798 law, the Alien Enemies Act, which allows the government to deport Venezuelan immigrants believed to be gang members without due process of law. Gabbard therefore fired Michael Collins, acting chairman of the National Intelligence Council, and Vice Chair Maria Langan-Riekhof, two experienced officials with decades-plus careers behind them. Gabbard’s deputy chief of staff Alexa Henning said in a post released on social media that the two were fired “because they politicized intelligence.”
“The Director is working alongside President Trump to end the weaponization and politicization of the Intelligence Community”, Olivia Coleman, Gabbard’s spokeswoman, added instead. Last month, the National Intelligence Council, which oversees analyses based on information from the country’s various agencies, produced a memo on the relationship between Tren de Aragua and the Venezuelan government, headed by Nicolas Maduro.
The analysis, supported by all agencies with the sole exclusion of the FBI, concluded that the gang does not take orders or operate in close coordination with the local leader. However, Trump and other administration officials have argued that it was the Venezuelan regime itself that ran the U.S. “operations” of the TdA, thus justifying the use of the Alien Enemies Act.
Later, Laura Loomer, a far-right activist who lobbied Trump to fire some senior national security officials, also criticized the National Intelligence Council, saying: “Why would leakers in the NIC try to undermine President Trump’s efforts to deport Tren De Aragua gang members? The NIC senior officials should be fired.”
Several Democrats, as well as some former intelligence officials, on the other hand, sharply criticized Gabbard’s decision. John Brennan, former CIA director, said the firings will have real repercussions on the employees of the various intelligence agencies themselves.
“It’s clearly a signal to tell analysts throughout the intelligence community: ‘you tell the truth, you provide objective analysis, as you’re supposed to be doing, you are running the risk of getting fired,’” he added.
Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said instead that Gabbard “is purging intelligence officials over a report that the Trump administration finds politically inconvenient.” “Whatever the administration is trying to protect, it’s not our national security”, he added.
