Tulsi Gabbard, wielding her new authority as Director of National Intelligence, just sent a clear message to the swamp: shape up or ship out.
On Tuesday, Gabbard sacked Mike Collins, acting chair of the National Intelligence Council, and his deputy Maria Langan-Riekhof, accusing them of cozying up to the anti-Trump brigade. The move has the Beltway buzzing and the MAGA faithful cheering.
The Daily Mail reported that Gabbard, not one to mince words, fired the pair for allegedly undermining President Donald Trump’s agenda with partisan leaks.
She also uprooted the entire National Intelligence Council from the CIA’s clutches, plopping it squarely under her office’s control to keep the politicization in check. It’s a bold play to drain a swamp that’s been leaking classified info like a sieve.
“Politicization of our intelligence puts our nation’s security at risk,” Gabbard declared. Well, no kidding—when career bureaucrats play fast and loose with secrets to score political points, it’s the American people who lose. Her move signals a zero-tolerance policy for the deep state’s shenanigans.
Collins, the ousted chair, reportedly has whistleblower complaints piling up, accusing him of political bias and sabotaging Trump’s administration.
Sources say he’s tight with Michael Morrell, the ex-CIA bigwig who peddled that 2020 Hunter Biden laptop nonsense as Russian meddling. Talk about picking the wrong friends.
Morrell’s 2020 letter, signed by a gaggle of ex-intelligence honchos, screamed “disinformation” about Biden’s laptop—classic deep state deflection. Collins’ ties to that fiasco raise eyebrows, and Gabbard’s not here for it. Actions, as they say, have consequences.
Langan-Riekhof, Collins’ deputy, didn’t fare much better. Whistleblowers paint her as a diversity, equity, and inclusion zealot, rabidly anti-Trump, and pushing agendas over national security. Gabbard’s purge suggests the woke crowd might want to update their résumés.
The National Intelligence Council’s relocation to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence isn’t just a change of address—it’s a power move.
Gabbard aims to root out “improper actions” and stop the council from being a political football. The CIA, surprisingly, nodded along, admitting the council belongs under the DNI’s roof.
“Those who leak classified information will be held accountable,” Gabbard vowed. Her promise to hunt down leakers, backed by plans to gut non-essential DNI offices, has the entrenched bureaucrats sweating. Good—maybe they’ll think twice before running to the Washington Post.
Leaks to outlets like the New York Times have long plagued Trump’s team, with unidentified officials spilling secrets to undermine his agenda. Gabbard’s calling it what it is: “deep state criminals” sabotaging the president for partisan gain. She’s not wrong, and the public’s fed up with the cloak-and-dagger nonsense.
The firings come amid a separate controversy involving a Signal chat that roped in Secretary Pete Hegseth, other Cabinet heavyweights, and Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg. Three officials now face criminal prosecution referrals over the mess. It’s a reminder that even encrypted apps can’t hide disloyalty.
Then there’s Mike Waltz, the former national security adviser who got the boot on Friday. Speculation swirled about his role in the Signal chat, but sources say his real sin was plotting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to strike Iran. That’s a diplomatic no-no, especially when you skip the peace talks.
Waltz, a former Green Beret, reportedly met Netanyahu during a February White House visit and bought into his hawkish pitch for attacking Iran. “You work for the president of your country, not another,” a source snapped, summing up Trump’s fury. Turns out, freelancing foreign policy doesn’t sit well with the boss.
Trump didn’t fire Waltz over the chat but for his rogue coordination with Netanyahu before an Oval Office meeting. The president, keen on diplomacy first, wasn’t thrilled about Waltz’s war drums. Loyalty matters, and Waltz learned that the hard way.
Gabbard’s working with the DOJ and FBI to “investigate, terminate, and prosecute” the leakers, and her relocation of the council is just the start. The deep state’s days of undermining Trump may be numbered, and that’s a win for accountability. Here’s hoping she keeps swinging.