Tulsi Gabbard Fires Officials After Assessment Finds Trump's Tren De Aragua Claims False

Tulsi Gabbard Fires Officials After Assessment Finds Trump's Tren De Aragua Claims False

· Yahoo News

National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard fired two senior officials at the National Intelligence Council after it released a report concluding the Venezuelan government is unlikely to be directing the activities of Tren de Aragua, in sharp contrast to President Donald Trump’s countless claims to the contrary.

Trump has repeatedly asserted, while offering no evidence, that Venezuela is somehow guiding the actions of the street gang. Trump also invoked Tren de Aragua to justify invoking the Alien Enemies Act shortly after taking office, leaning on the 1798 law to deport people without due process.

Michael Collins, the acting chair of the National Intelligence Council, and deputy Maria Langan-Riekhof were fired Tuesday, a source told CNN. It’s unclear what role, if any, Collins and Langan-Riekhof played in producing the analysis.

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The firings come a week after an intelligence assessment produced by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence found Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s government probably isn’t involved in Tren de Aragua’s operations in the U.S.

The existence of that partially declassified assessment was first reported by The Washington Post.

An unnamed senior Trump official spun the firings to Fox News as an effort to block the “politicization of intelligence.” But their intent is clearly the opposite, Jonathan Panikoff, the former deputy national intelligence officer for the Near East, wrote on X.

“Having spent five years working at the NIC, I can personally attest the org is the heartbeat of apolitical US all-source analysis, traditionally drawing the best of the IC’s analysts together to tackle and produce assessments on the hardest issues,” he said.

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“Anything that reduces its independence because policymakers don’t like the independent conclusions it reaches, is the definition of politicization they are decrying,” he added. “Mike and Maria are unbelievable leaders and IC professionals, not political actors.”

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