• Starting today August 7th, 2024, in order to post in the Married Couples, Courting Couples, or Singles forums, you will not be allowed to post if you have your Marital status designated as private. Announcements will be made in the respective forums as well but please note that if yours is currently listed as Private, you will need to submit a ticket in the Support Area to have yours changed.

DNI Gabbard Slammed for Identifying Undercover CIA Officer in tweet about pulling security clearances of 37 people

essentialsaltes

Fact-Based Lifeform
Oct 17, 2011
42,881
45,976
Los Angeles Area
✟1,020,891.00
Country
United States
Faith
Atheist
Marital Status
Legal Union (Other)
On Aug. 19, Gabbard posted a memo on X that included a list of 37 current and former officials who had been stripped of their security clearances, including those who had supported Trump’s first impeachment trial or concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 election.

Also included on the list was a senior CIA officer who had been working undercover, though Gabbard was unaware of this at the time, The Wall Street Journal reported. However, sources told the newspaper that Gabbard did not consult with the intelligence agency before posting the list of names to her 762,000 online followers.

The CIA also had no advance warning that Gabbard planned to publish the list, which her office had sent it to the agency the night before.

The undercover CIA officer had worked in intelligence posts for more than 20 years and served as an expert on Russia and Eurasia on the National Intelligence Council between 2014 and 2017, according to the WSJ.

On Thursday, The Washington Post reported that the CIA had fired its top Russian expert days after Trump’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska. The officer, who had nearly 30 years of experience, was also included on Gabbard’s list of people whose security clearances were revoked.
 
  • Wow
Reactions: DaisyDay
Jul 12, 2010
436
573
United Kingdom
✟282,083.00
Faith
Atheist
Marital Status
Private
Is she a Russian agent?


"In almost every foreign conflict in which Russia had a hand, Gabbard backed Moscow and railed against the US. Her past promotion of Kremlin propaganda has provoked significant opposition on both sides of the aisle to her nomination."
 
Upvote 0

Pommer

CoPacEtiC SkEpTic
Sep 13, 2008
22,772
14,061
Earth
✟247,766.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
Deist
Marital Status
In Relationship
Politics
US-Democrat
On Aug. 19, Gabbard posted a memo on X that included a list of 37 current and former officials who had been stripped of their security clearances, including those who had supported Trump’s first impeachment trial or concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 election.

Also included on the list was a senior CIA officer who had been working undercover, though Gabbard was unaware of this at the time, The Wall Street Journal reported. However, sources told the newspaper that Gabbard did not consult with the intelligence agency before posting the list of names to her 762,000 online followers.

The CIA also had no advance warning that Gabbard planned to publish the list, which her office had sent it to the agency the night before.

The undercover CIA officer had worked in intelligence posts for more than 20 years and served as an expert on Russia and Eurasia on the National Intelligence Council between 2014 and 2017, according to the WSJ.

On Thursday, The Washington Post reported that the CIA had fired its top Russian expert days after Trump’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska. The officer, who had nearly 30 years of experience, was also included on Gabbard’s list of people whose security clearances were revoked.
It used to be Vice Presidents* who could authorize such a “leak” and always once-removed.

Oopsie! Did we ‘out’ a covert agent!? Again? Oopsie!

Such incompetence is at least entertaining!

*c.f. Scooter Libbey
 
Upvote 0

essentialsaltes

Fact-Based Lifeform
Oct 17, 2011
42,881
45,976
Los Angeles Area
✟1,020,891.00
Country
United States
Faith
Atheist
Marital Status
Legal Union (Other)

Tensions rise between Gabbard and CIA chief after her disclosure of undercover officer's name, insiders say

[Gabbard's disclosure] alarmed the agency’s workforce, the sources said, and is the latest example of simmering tensions and crossed signals between Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe. The two have clashed previously over her decisions, including earlier this month when Gabbard declassified a lightly redacted document related to Russian election interference.

Two former government officials said their read of the situation is that Gabbard is under pressure to regain President Donald Trump’s confidence. Gabbard fell out of favor with Trump and his aides earlier this year after she posted a video and delivered testimony about Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

Apart from highlighting the divide between Gabbard and Ratcliffe, the episode also illustrates the effect of a widening and unpredictable purge of career government officials deemed insufficiently loyal.

[The person in question was a Russia expert, worked on the assessment of Russian interference in the 2016 election, and] "did most of the prep for the Putin summit and to this day has no idea why her clearance was removed,” said a former colleague, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of retaliation from the Trump administration.

Apart from the CIA analyst, there were at least two other current intelligence officers on Gabbard’s list. One was Vinh Nguyen at the National Security Agency, who colleagues say was recognized as the intelligence community’s top mind on cutting-edge technology such as artificial intelligence. The government recruited Nguyen at the age of 17 and he was the youngest NSA employee ever promoted to a senior position, former colleagues said.

Former intelligence officers described him as a generational genius who could not be replaced. “The U.S. government is the big loser here,” said a former senior intelligence official, referring to Nguyen’s ouster. [He also worked on the assessment of Russian interference in the 2016 election.]
 
Upvote 0