Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has been cleaning house since day one.
She’s already declassified bombshell documents exposing the Russia hoax and referred Barack Obama to the Justice Department.
But Tulsi Gabbard just declared war on the Deep State with a power move that has the swamp in full panic mode.
Gabbard drops the hammer on intelligence community conspirators
Gabbard didn’t waste any time making it clear that the days of weaponizing the intelligence community against Donald Trump are over.
She announced that her office had stripped security clearances from 37 current and former intelligence officials who worked at the CIA, NSA, State Department, and National Security Council.
"Being entrusted with a security clearance is a privilege, not a right," Gabbard wrote on X. "Those in the Intelligence Community who betray their oath to the Constitution and put their own interests ahead of the interests of the American people have broken the sacred trust they promised to uphold."
These aren’t just bureaucratic paper shufflers getting their wrists slapped.
Gabbard accused these 37 operatives of "politicizing and manipulating intelligence, leaking classified intelligence without authorization, and/or committing intentional egregious violations of tradecraft standards."
Among the notable names getting their clearances yanked: Brett M. Holmgren, former assistant secretary of state for intelligence and research; Richard H. Ledgett, former NSA deputy director; and Stephanie O’Sullivan, former principal deputy director of National Intelligence.
The memo references how former Obama DNI James Clapper told officials to "compromise" normal procedures to rush the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment related to Russia’s influence in the 2016 election – but Clapper himself wasn’t among those losing clearances in this action.
Translation: these people were running dirty tricks operations against Trump using America’s most sensitive intelligence capabilities – and some were illegally leaking classified information to boot.
And Gabbard made it clear this wasn’t her idea alone – she said the decision was made "at President Donald Trump’s direction."
The deeper conspiracy gets exposed
Here’s what makes this move so significant – Gabbard isn’t just going after people who bent procedures.
She’s targeting operatives who "leaked classified intelligence without authorization" and committed "intentional egregious violations of tradecraft standards."
That means some of these 37 people were allegedly breaking federal law by leaking classified information.
The investigation also references how James Clapper, Obama’s former Director of National Intelligence, told officials to "compromise" normal procedures – though Clapper himself wasn’t among the 37 who lost clearances in this specific action.
According to Gabbard’s memo, Clapper told officials to "compromise" normal procedures to rush that 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment about Russian election interference.
We’re also seeing names like Stephanie O’Sullivan, former principal deputy director of National Intelligence, and Luke R. Hartig, former senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council.
Even Yael Eisenstat made the list – a former CIA officer and White House advisor who was involved in Facebook’s election integrity operation.
Think about what that means.
These are people who had access to the country’s most sensitive secrets, and they were apparently cutting corners and bending rules when it came to assessments involving Trump.
They were supposed to be following standard intelligence procedures.
Instead, they were rushing politically sensitive reports through the system without proper vetting.
Accountability finally arrives in Washington
The memo made it crystal clear what’s happening to these 37 operatives.
Their access to classified systems, facilities, materials, and information gets terminated immediately.
Their government contracts and employment? Also terminated.
They have to surrender their credentials to security officers.
"Our Intelligence Community must be committed to upholding the values and principles enshrined in the US Constitution and maintain a laser-like focus on our mission of ensuring the safety, security and freedom of the American people," Gabbard wrote on X.
This is exactly the kind of house-cleaning that Trump voters demanded when they gave him a mandate in November.
For years, these same intelligence operatives have been lecturing Americans about "threats to democracy" while they were the ones actually undermining standard procedures.
Many of them have been appearing on CNN and MSNBC as "national security experts" while cashing in on the very clearances they apparently abused during the Russia investigation.
Not anymore.
What a concept – intelligence officials actually following proper procedures instead of rushing politically sensitive assessments to meet someone’s timeline.
The deep state spent years convinced they were untouchable.
They figured they’d never face consequences because they were part of the permanent Washington establishment.
Tulsi Gabbard just proved them wrong.
And this is probably just the beginning.
If 37 people were dirty enough to lose their clearances over the Russia investigation, how many more cut corners on other politically sensitive matters?
The swamp is about to find out that the Trump administration isn’t playing games this time around.
¹ Tulsi Gabbard, "Being entrusted with a security clearance is a privilege, not a right…," X (Twitter), August 19, 2025.
² Fox News, "Gabbard removes clearances from 37 officials at Trump’s direction over politicizing intelligence," Fox News, August 19, 2025.
