The Politicization of Intelligence: Tulsi Gabbard and the Weaponization of Classified Information

The Steady State | August 13, 2025

In recent months, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has joined Donald Trump, Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe, and others in promoting the claim that former President Barack Obama and his senior national security officials—including James Clapper and John Brennan—weaponized the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) to fabricate the so-called Russia collusion “hoax" and undermine Trump’s presidency. Trump has accused Obama of treason, and Gabbard has accused the most powerful people in the Obama Administration of having laid “the groundwork for what was essentially a years-long coup” against Trump.

These claims have taken on new urgency following a detailed report from The Washington Post (August 6, 2025), which revealed that, in late July, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard—acting with President Trump’s approval—released a 46-page report originally drafted by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee in 2017. Despite explicit objections from intelligence officials at CIA and other agencies, who warned that the report contained material based on human sources, electronic surveillance, and international partnerships, Gabbard overrode their concerns and authorized a minimally-redacted release. Intelligence officials cautioned that exposing these sources and methods could damage trust with key foreign allies.

As background, on July 27, 2025, during a Fox News interview, Ratcliffe claimed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former CIA director John Brennan, and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper could be prosecuted for their role, saying that they were still involved in a criminal conspiracy against Trump. According to the Washington Post, the Justice Department has moved forward with an investigation into whether Obama-era officials violated federal law during their probe of Russia’s involvement in the 2016 presidential election. A Department of Justice letter to the National Archives and Records Administration obtained by the Post confirmed that DOJ was “demanding archived intelligence assessments from the nearly-decade-old race.”

Central to the Trump administration’s accusation is the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA), which assessed with high confidence that “Russian President, Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US Presidential election.” They also assessed “Putin and the Russian government aspired to help President-elect Trump’s election chances when possible by discrediting Secretary Clinton and publicly contrasting her unfavorably to him.” Notably, the ICA made no assessment regarding the impact of Russian interference on the actual outcome of the election.

To be clear, over the course of several years, multiple investigations—including those led by Trump’s own appointees and a Republican-controlled Senate Intelligence Committee—found no evidence of a “coup” or a conspiracy orchestrated by the Obama administration. Despite these findings, Trump and his allies continue to weaponize this false narrative, using it to smear political opponents and distort the public’s understanding of what actually occurred. (See Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) Report, Vol. 4 (2020), Department of Justice Inspector General (OIG) Report (2019), Mueller Report (2019), Durham Report (2023))

Gabbard’s actions reflect a deep and troubling irony: while she publicly condemns former officials for allegedly politicizing intelligence to serve a partisan agenda, she has now done exactly that—exploiting highly classified material against the advice of intelligence professionals in order to bolster a narrative that aligns with her own political interests. In seeking to expose supposed abuse, she has herself become an active participant in the very misuse of intelligence she claims to oppose.

Conclusion

Tulsi Gabbard’s role in disclosing classified intelligence in an attempt to validate the coup narrative exemplifies the dangers of politicizing intelligence. Her actions not only contravene the warnings of intelligence professionals but also endanger sensitive national security information. The very investigations she disparages—led by officials appointed by Trump and affirmed by Republicans in Congress—consistently concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to aid Trump, and that the ICA reflected proper tradecraft. By weaponizing sensitive intelligence to support a false narrative, Gabbard has become what she claims to oppose: a political actor undermining faith in the Intelligence Community for partisan gain.

Founded in 2016, The Steady State is a nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)(4) organization of more than 300 former senior national security professionals. Our membership includes former officials from the CIA, FBI, Department of State, Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security. Drawing on deep expertise across national security disciplines including intelligence, diplomacy, military affairs and law, we advocate for constitutional democracy, the rule of law and the preservation of America’s national security institutions.