Posted originally on CTH on September 7, 2025 | Sundance

SSCI Vice Chairman Mark Warner is not happy the Trump administration is subverting the oversight authorities of the SSCI and Gang-of-Eight.  If you know the background of the SSCI and Warner, his frustration is a positive indication.

I’ll have much more to say about the ramifications of his anxiety and the background therein, but here’s the raw interview as broadcast for context of what will follow.

Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman, Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, told “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that the committee was not briefed ahead of President Trump’s deadly Venezuelan boat strike that was allegedly carrying drugs. The mission was a military operation, but Warner said, “This kind of action should be briefed to the intelligence community.”  WATCH:

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Posted originally on CTH on September 5, 2025

Shortly after the video was released, the ODNI released the transcript. Ultimately one of the big questions surrounding Mrs. Gabbard in the role of Director of National Intelligence, is motive. Is she genuinely willing to confront the unconstitutional construct of the intelligence branch?

We can never truly understand what lies in the heart; intent is a very challenging aspect to discern, because the best intentions of people can often be impacted by the severity of the opposition they face. However, we can gauge the best likelihood for resolve based on the expressed intentions as the battle plans are developed.

[TRANSCRIPT] – “It’s so great to be able to join all of you here today. This is an event I am grateful to have been invited to, year after year, the scheduling just never worked out. So, I’m so glad to be able to come and to be able to greet you in person and just talk a little bit about the grave challenges that we face.

Yes, in the work that we’re doing on a daily basis, it’s very appropriate that I’m following Mike Benz in this, because he’s focused on a lot of the same things that we are focused on investigating and uncovering. But really, the challenges that he is talking about are challenges that every one of us as Americans are facing. And the task is not just for a Mike Benz or for a certain agency to take on.

This is a moment of opportunity in our country where we have to be very clear-eyed about the direct threats and challenges to our fundamental rights and liberties, and freedoms, and what we, the people, are going to do about it.

When we look at how it came to be for me and for others who I serve alongside to be here and to be a part of this change, we go back to the 2024 election and look at how President Trump was reelected and sent back to the White House by a truly unique cross-partisan coalition of Americans who looked beyond labels, and really were attracted to his message of putting the American people first.

It was a resounding statement in his win of that election by a significant and historic margin, and it was a clear rejection of the status quo of the Washington elite, of political leaders who put their own self-interest ahead of the interests of the American people. And it was a demand for a government of, by, and for the people.

So here we are, about seven, eight months into this administration. President Trump has wasted no time in challenging this system, this broken system, in Washington and striking at its very root, delivering results for the American people to make our nation more safe, secure, prosperous, and free.

I have the privilege of serving as America’s eighth Director of National Intelligence. And President Trump has entrusted in me the mission and responsibility of overseeing the intelligence community, this sprawling network of agencies and entities that are charged with the task of providing timely and objective intelligence to the president and policymakers, free from politicization.

Unfortunately, in my short tenure here so far, we have already seen too many examples of politicization and weaponization of intelligence throughout our country’s history.

We look at where we are now over the last several weeks, we’ve declassified and released documents that exposed how President Obama and leaders in the intelligence community knowingly manufactured a false intelligence document after the 2016 election was done, after the American people said no, we want Donald Trump to go and be our commander in chief, not Hillary Clinton. And this manufactured document alleged that Russia aspired to help President Trump win the election, with the aim of undermining his presidency and usurping the will and the voices of the American people who sent Trump to the White House.

When you look at some of the very same leaders who led this manufactured intelligence document, like James Clapper, also had a very direct hand in manufacturing intelligence on the weapons of mass destruction, the alleged weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, to support George W. Bush’s regime change war in Iraq.

For me to be here as the eighth Director of National Intelligence and uncover how James Clapper and others like John Brennan manufactured intelligence to try to undermine President Trump’s administration and presidency and the voices of the American people, and then go back to the founding of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence that came about as a result of the terrorist attack on 9/11, and the manufacturing of intelligence to support the regime change war in Iraq that George Bush led, is an interesting bookend where we find ourselves still dealing with these same issues of politicization and weaponization of intelligence.

James Clapper at that time was the director of the agency that is now called the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, or NGA. And he wrote in his book about how Vice President Dick Cheney was pushing for intelligence, pushing for intelligence to support the invasion of Iraq, to support the narrative of Iraq’s alleged WMDs, and to support the narrative of Iraq’s alleged ties to Al-Qaeda, neither of which actually existed.

So in response to this, James Clapper ordered his agency to create images that Colin Powell then went on to use to support their alleged WMDs narrative. And in James Clapper’s words, we were, quote, “so eager to help that we found what wasn’t really there.” End of quote.

We’ve seen other examples—those that we know of. There are many others that I believe we don’t yet know of—how leaders in the intelligence community, in the FBI, knowingly used false information to gain FISA warrants to illegally spy on American citizens. These are just a few of, unfortunately, what is a long list of known examples of politicization and weaponization that all point to the truth that many of us here in this room know, which is that the rot runs deep, and it’s not just in the intelligence community. I’ve seen examples of this across almost every federal agency.

And so it requires us all to confront the uncomfortable truth that we have these conspirators, these traitors to the Constitution, who are working within our government, who dangerously believe that they are not only above the law, but that they are above the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. People who believe that they have the right to undermine the duly elected president of the United States because they disagree with his positions or his policies, and that they know better.

We go back to the first Trump administration and a prominent example of then former Lieutenant Colonel Vindman. And I remember being in Congress as a Democrat at the time, seeing his testimony and the testimony of others, basically saying, well, we have to protect the country from Donald Trump, the person the American people elected to be the president of the United States. Whether we agree or disagree on policy is not the point. If you disagree on policy, go run for president and market your policies to the American people. It undermines our Constitution, our democratic republic, and we have people within our government who are not the President of the United States, who are not elected by the American people, taking it upon themselves to undermine, ultimately, the American people and the Constitution.

These people have gotten away with these kinds of activities for so long, because they’re protected by an entire system that is built to shield their nefarious activities. And they do this with the assistance and the protection of the deep state and the propaganda media. And those of us who have been targeted by this deep state are very familiar with the tactics.

Keep this in mind. This happens frequently in real time, as we gather here today, where someone in the intelligence community leaks classified intelligence to their friends in the propaganda media. Those individuals in the propaganda media eagerly print this classified intelligence from unnamed sources. Then we see other people in the media talk about this classified intelligence. No one’s verified it. No one’s done any kind of vetting, no one has done any basic journalistic work. And then we see politicians repeating and talking about this thing that was leaked to the media. And we’ve seen how this tried-and-true playbook that is used over and over again to either smear their opponents to, in President Trump’s case, to be used as a basis for FBI raids on his home, lawfare, impeachments, endless investigations, and so forth.

So I get asked oftentimes by people who don’t come to events like this, who are just working hard and trying to raise a family and trying to get by, when they say, what is the deep state? People talk about the deep state. What is it? This is what we’re talking about. It’s not some grand conspiracy theory. It is a conspiracy to undermine the Constitution.

But this is the reality that we are operating in, and it’s important for us to talk about it, to be very clear-eyed about it so that we can combat it with the truth. And this is why exposing the truth is so important, to bring about that real transparency and that accountability, ensuring that our Constitution and Bill of Rights—and this is something that I’m focused on in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and pushing throughout the intelligence community—is actually focusing on the Constitution, making it an event when new people are brought in to any of these organizations.

Every one of them has to swear an oath, as many here did if you served in the military, if you’ve served in different positions in government, to support and defend the Constitution, to talk about it, have a discussion. What does this actually mean and how do we apply it in the work that is done every single day? Because it must be our North Star every day. It must be that guiding principle that serves as our foundation and the left and right limits in the decisions that are being made within our work.

Those who serve in government in any position at the very top, or those who may be coming in brand new, our sole focus must be on serving the American people and upholding the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

It’s very, I feel, appropriate that I’m coming and speaking to you after Mike Benz and hearing at least some of the things he talked about at the end, about the various attacks on our fundamental rights, freedoms, and liberties that are occurring not only here in the United States, but how these threats are coming from policies and agreements that are being talked about in multinational organizations and settings. Our founding documents were based on our inalienable rights and freedoms that are granted to us by God and no one else. And it’s up to us to continue to speak that truth and stand up against those who seek to take them away, no matter where they are or who they are.

We have a lot of work to do. We are working hard every day towards this end, when you look at how deeply entrenched the deep state is, those who believe they are more powerful than the Constitution, you can understand the work that we have ahead of us. But I’m grateful to serve in this position, grateful to President Trump for entrusting me with this mission, to truly seek the truth, find the truth, and tell the truth to the American people, so that true accountability and true change, lasting change, can come about.

You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free. This change will only be possible if every one of us, as Americans, stands together and fights for it. The future of our country as a free nation is truly in our hands, and we cannot be complacent. We cannot fall asleep at the wheel and allow anyone to sneak in the back door and take it from us, literally and figuratively.

So this movement for positive change, institutional and historic change, is about more than one person or one organization. It’s about all of us, and it’s about restoring the promise of America and the vision that our founders had for our country. And as we go back and look at their courage and their strength and the threats that were laid on them as they worked to write these founding documents, I hope that that gives us inspiration and courage and strength to fight the battles that we have before us, because we are the ones that they were referring to when they talked about a government of, by, and for the people. We’re the only ones who can make it happen.

Thank you for standing for freedom and liberty and truth. Aloha.

[END TRANSCRIPT]

Posted originally on CTH on September 4, 2025 | Sundance

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard delivered a speech at the National Conservatism Conference in Washington, D.C. where she gave specific citations for previous weaponization of intelligence.

DNI Gabbard walks through a timeline of intelligence manipulation, and points to the system within Washington DC that supports the manipulation because it bolsters a political agenda. Gabbard notes that exposing the truth is the ultimate countermeasure to reveal the deception and stop the false constructs.  WATCH:

Due to the venue and audio, the speech has an echo.  However, I would request those who are pondering the intent of Tulsi Gabbard to stay with it and listen carefully to how she outlines the importance of the current objective.  The bill of rights must be defended, she says…. and she is deliberate in understanding the big picture implications.

Posted originally on CTH on August 28, 2025 | Sundance 

The Wall Street Journal wrote the hit piece against DNI Tulsi Gabbard, sourced to two “people familiar with the matter,” and “three other people with knowledge of the situation.”  They all needed to coordinate with the WSJ. Think about it.

The substance of the story is that among the 37 current and former Intelligence Community officials Tulsi Gabbard recently stripped of their security clearances, was an “undercover CIA agent” located within one of those agencies.

The story is written to say DNI Tulsi Gabbard should have vetted the list with the CIA for a longer period of time before she took action. Therefore, she is not doing her job correctly, or something.  The CIA was compromised by Tulsi Gabbard removing the security clearance of one of their hidden agents within the U.S. Government.

Before getting to the story at hand, just stop and think of what the story is selling.  The article says the placement of CIA agents throughout the administration’s agencies is commonplace.  The CIA Director is not necessarily aware of these CIA operatives or operations that are taking place within the government.  That point is one well worth thinking about.

However, there’s another larger point that will fly past most casual observers.  The Intelligence Community (IC), and let’s accept this one is likely the CIA (directorate of analysis) from the structure of the political hit, is leaking against DNI Tulsi Gabbard.  Again, think. The issue at the heart of the CIA complaint is null and void unless the CIA publicly complains about it.

If there was a valid, genuine, legitimate and valuable CIA asset within the 37 names who lost their security clearances, the issue would be quickly and quietly resolved by just not taking the action against that person.  Saying nothing, doing nothing, makes the “mistake” (if that’s what it was) disappear.

The CIA complaining about it to the Wall Street Journal is what makes the issue a problem.  That’s how you can identify this story as an organized Intelligence Community political hit against Tulsi Gabbard.

Increasingly, it is becoming more and more clear that Tulsi Gabbard is factually doing what the Intelligence Community feared she would be doing.

DNI Gabbard is targeting all of the political weaponization within the Intelligence Community, and she is methodically removing the corrupt people within the system who participate. In short, she’s doing the thing we wanted her to do – and that’s a problem for the system.

Wall Street Journal – Tulsi Gabbard, director of national intelligence, surprised Central Intelligence Agency officials last week when she included an undercover senior CIA officer on a roster of 37 current and former officials she stripped of security clearances.

Most of the 37 people 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 President 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.

[…] The CIA official whose clearance was revoked last week is a longtime Russia hand at the agency. The officer has held intelligence posts for more than 20 years and worked from 2014 to 2017 as an expert on Russia and Eurasia on the National Intelligence Council, according to 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.

[…] It is a felony to reveal the identity of a covert intelligence officer or agent, though it is unclear if the statute could be applied to a government disclosure, or if including her on the list constitutes a disclosure.  (read more)

Did ya’ll catch that little slip-up “her” inside the last sentence?

Apparently, the person on the list, the hidden CIA operative that lost their security clearance, was a “her.”

I watch the minutia closely, and this is one of those very rare instances where I can say, I find zero reason to doubt the intents and integrity goals of DNI Tulsi Gabbard.

FTA: “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”… AFCEA Spring Intelligence Symposium: Ms. Julia Gurganus, Senior Executive Manager – Europe and Eurasia Mission Center, Central Intelligence Agency. [LINK]