President Donald Trump's director of national intelligence is facing blowback for exposing an undercover operative on social media.
Tulsi Gabbard, who heads up U.S. intelligence services, surprised Central Intelligence Agency officials last week when she included an undercover senior officer on a list of 37 current and former officials she stripped of security clearances, including individuals who had supported Trump’s first impeachment trial or concluded that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election, reported the Wall Street Journal.
"Gabbard didn’t know the CIA officer had been working undercover, according to a person familiar with the fallout from the list’s release," the newspaper reported. "Three other people with knowledge of the situation said that Gabbard’s office didn’t meaningfully consult with the CIA before releasing the list."
The intel chief's office delivered the list to the CIA the evening before she posted it on her X account but did not notify the agency she would publicize it on social media, according to three sources, and Gabbard said in a memo announcing the revocations that she was acting on Trump's orders.
“Director of National Intelligence Gabbard directed the revocations to ensure individuals who have violated the trust placed in them by weaponizing, politicizing, manipulating or leaking classified intelligence are no longer allowed to do so,” a spokesperson for Gabbard’s office told the Journal.
But intelligence experts say a "smart" director would have consulted with the CIA before making the list public to avoid exposing a covert officer.
“It could potentially put CIA cover procedures at risk. It could put relations with foreign governments at risk," said Larry Pfeiffer, a former chief of staff at the CIA.
The undercover officer had worked for more than 20 years in intelligence posts before being exposed by Gabbard and served as an expert on Russia and Eurasia on the National Intelligence Council between 2014 and 2017, and an attorney who has represented intelligence officers suggested the DNI had broken the law by following Trump's order.
“Can you say ‘Privacy Act violation’? I certainly can,” attorney Mark Zaid, whose own security clearance was revoked by Trump, posted on X. “Further proof of weaponization and politicization. The vast majority of these individuals are not household names & are dedicated public servants who have worked across multiple presidential administrations.”
Brian Fiarchil, a retired career CIA operations officer, questioned Gabbard's judgment and qualifications.
"Gabbard doesn’t know squat about intelligence," Fiarchil posted. "She’s simply a Trump lapdog who will do anything to stay in his good graces, and Trump hates the intelligence agencies.”