Tulsi Gabbard Says More Than 100 Intelligence Officials Being Fired Over Secret Chats

Tulsi Gabbard, the then-nominee for director of national intelligence, testifies before Congress in Washington on Jan. 30, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

More than 100 officials from the U.S. intelligence community are being fired after they were identified as participants in secret chats, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said on Feb. 25.

“There are over 100 people from across the intelligence community that contributed to and participated in this, what is really just an egregious violation of trust,” Gabbard told Fox News.

The officials did not abide by basic rules and standards, according to Gabbard.

“I put out a directive today that they all will be terminated and their security clearances will be revoked,” she said.

Reporter Christopher Rufo recently posted logs from internal National Security Agency (NSA) chatrooms that he said showed employees from multiple intelligence agencies discussing sexual topics and other issues.

Gabbard on Tuesday confirmed the chatrooms were real.

“This behavior is unacceptable and those involved WILL be held accountable,” she wrote on social media platform X. “These disgusting chat groups were immediately shut down” when President Donald Trump issued an executive order targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, she added.

Alexa Henning, a spokesperson for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, said on Tuesday before Gabbard’s appearance on Fox that Gabbard sent a memo directing all intelligence agencies to identify the employees who participated in the chatrooms. The memo also ordered the agencies to fire the workers and revoke their security clearances, Henning said.

Gabbard on Wednesday said that the participants had been identified and “action is underway.”

“When you see what these people were saying ... they were brazen in using an NSA platform intended for professional use to conduct this kind of really, really horrific behavior,” Gabbard said on Fox. “And they were brazen in doing this because, when was the last time anyone was really held accountable? Certainly not over the last four years, certainly not over the last 10, maybe 20 years, and we look at some of the biggest violations of the American people’s trust in the intelligence community.”

She added: “So, today’s action in holding these individuals accountable is just the beginning of what we’re seeing across the Trump administration, which is carrying out the mandate the American people gave him: clean the house, root out that rot and weaponization and politicization so we can start to rebuild that trust in these institutions that are charged with an important mission of serving the American people, ensuring our safety, security, and freedom.”

The NSA, which did not respond to a request for comment, said on X this week that it “is aware of posts that appear to show inappropriate discussions by [intelligence community] personnel.”

The agency said that intelligence community collaboration platforms are used to help accomplish missions.

“Potential misuse of these platforms by a small group of individuals does not represent the community,” it said. “Investigations to address this misuse of government systems are ongoing.”