Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who was wholly unqualified for the job, shared the name of an undercover CIA officer on the Bad App, alarming people inside the spy agency. It appears that Gabbard's list of revoking clearances is an act of political retribution, which tracks with this administration because the 37 people she listed had either participated in intelligence assessments related to Russia's attempt to influence the outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential election or had signed a 2019 letter calling for Trump's impeachment.
Gabbard didn't know the CIA officer had been working undercover, according to a person familiar with the fallout from the list's release. Three other people with knowledge of the situation said that Gabbard's office didn't meaningfully consult with the CIA before releasing the list.
Gabbard's office delivered the list of 37 people to the CIA the evening before the list's release, according to three people familiar with the communications and emails read to The Wall Street Journal.
The national intelligence office didn't seek the CIA's input about the composition of the list, and the CIA had no foreknowledge of Gabbard's posting on X the following day that revealed the names, including that of the covered CIA officer, according to two of the people familiar with the events.
In a memo announcing the revocations, Gabbard said she had acted 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 spokeswoman in Gabbard's office said.
She's really bad at her job:
Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe had differences in July, when she declassified a lightly redacted document about Russian influence on the 2016 U.S. election. The CIA had wanted to redact a greater portion of the report because it revealed sensitive agency sources and methods, according to people familiar with the matter. The conflict over the document was earlier reported by the Washington Post.
"A smart [director of national intelligence] would have consulted with CIA" before identifying the undercover officer, said Larry Pfeiffer, a former chief of staff at the CIA. "It could potentially put CIA cover procedures at risk. It could put relations with foreign governments at risk."
Smart? I'm sorry, but that doesn't apply to anyone in this administration.
As it happens, the CIA official is a longtime Russia hand at the agency. According to the outlet, the officer has held intelligence posts for more than 20 years and served as an expert on Russia and Eurasia on the National Intelligence Council from 2014 to 2017, as per a publicly listed biography. Earlier this year, the CIA officer spoke at a classified intelligence conference and was described as a senior executive manager in the CIA's Europe and Eurasia mission center, so he's not a lightweight or just a staffer, and she should have known better.
This didn't go down well.
I don't recall these problems in Biden's administration, and saying she didn't know is not an excuse for outing a CIA covert officer.
