President Donald Trump's second term can be defined by its quest for ideological purity, according to one analyst.
In an essay for The Atlantic, former national security officer Tom Nichols argued that this quest manifests itself in several ways, most prominently in the politicization of the intelligence community. For instance, F.B.I. Director Kash Patel and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard are reportedly using artificial intelligence and lie detector tests to determine whether their employees are aligned with Trump.
Nichols said this effort is built on a "flatly ridiculous, and extremely dangerous," idea.
"The entire system is set up exactly to prevent someone from doing what Gabbard wants to do: gather lots of material from many agencies, dump it all in the same hopper, and then let people (or an AI) trawl through it looking for anything that seems interesting," Nichols wrote.
"Perhaps in a national emergency, such as a massive data breach or the discovery of a highly destructive espionage operation, a full-spectrum search might make some sense, especially if it were conducted by experienced professionals who knew what they were looking for," the essay reads. "Instead, Gabbard just wants to see if anyone is slagging the president’s agenda."
Nichols added that ideological disagreements are a part of every political administration. However, it rarely rises to the level that Gabbard seems to be contemplating. Instead, these disagreements typically involve an "unwise email expressing bewilderment or disagreement or anger," according to Nichols.
"While Gabbard is thumbing through emails and posts, and Patel is examining heart rhythms to see who’s been rolling their eyes at him, America is in peril," Nichols wrote.