Tulsi Gabbard's Controversial Role in Trump's Iran War Strategy and Intelligence Weaponization

Tulsi Gabbard Excluded from Critical White House Iran War Meeting

On Saturday, former President Donald Trump convened a high-level meeting in the White House Situation Room to discuss the Iran war strategy. According to multiple news reports, the attendees included Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, envoy Steve Witkoff, Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe. Notably absent from this meeting was Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.

This exclusion has led to speculation about the relevance of Gabbard’s role, with some administration officials joking that DNI stands for Do Not Invite. The absence raises questions about the purpose of having a Director of National Intelligence who is consistently sidelined in major national security discussions.

Gabbard’s Role: Political Loyalty Over Intelligence Oversight

Gabbard’s value to Trump does not lie in her oversight of the 18 agencies within the intelligence community, which is her primary responsibility. Nor does it stem from her extensive intelligence experience, which is minimal. Instead, her utility to Trump is rooted in her willingness to advance his political agenda, particularly his desire for vengeance against perceived enemies.

This includes her active role in politicizing and weaponizing intelligence—a practice unprecedented in U.S. history. Last summer, Gabbard took a controversial step by releasing highly classified intelligence documents. She claimed these documents proved that former President Barack Obama, his CIA Director John Brennan, and other officials in what she termed the "Deep State" had committed treason, a crime punishable by death.

Gabbard accused these officials of falsifying intelligence to suggest that Russian President Vladimir Putin had covertly interfered in the 2016 election to assist Trump’s campaign. However, these claims were entirely unfounded. Multiple investigations, including those by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee, have confirmed that Putin did indeed interfere in the 2016 election to benefit Trump.

Weaponizing Intelligence for Political Gain

In a highly unethical move, Gabbard, as the top U.S. intelligence official, deployed unsubstantiated or fabricated Russian intelligence material—despite objections from CIA officials—to smear American politicians. This act was widely condemned as disgraceful and an egregious misuse of intelligence for partisan purposes.

Gabbard’s actions prompted Trump to call for the prosecution of Obama, Brennan, and others. Trump escalated the rhetoric by posting an AI-generated video depicting FBI agents violently arresting Obama and placing him in a prison cell, with Obama kneeling before Trump. Such incidents underscore how intelligence has been weaponized for purely political ends under the current administration.

The fallout from Gabbard’s actions led the U.S. Department of Justice to launch a criminal investigation into Brennan and others, which remains ongoing.

Declassification of Dubious Russian Intelligence

In addition to the classified documents, Gabbard declassified and publicly released a secret report that cited Russian intelligence from 2016. The report claimed that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suffered from "intensified psycho-emotional problems," was on a daily regimen of "heavy tranquilizers," and had allegedly orchestrated the Trump-Russia scandal to divert attention from her email controversy.

However, U.S. intelligence analysts and FBI agents had previously determined this Russian-sourced material to be unreliable and without merit. Despite this, Gabbard’s decision to release it further demonstrated her disregard for the integrity of intelligence and her willingness to use it as a political tool.

Broader Implications of Gabbard’s Actions

The actions taken by Tulsi Gabbard under Trump’s administration highlight a troubling trend: the erosion of trust in U.S. intelligence institutions. By weaponizing intelligence for political purposes, Gabbard has set a dangerous precedent that could have long-lasting consequences for the credibility of American intelligence and the stability of its democratic processes.