The US Director of Intelligence has declassified a CIA agent who was working undercover in Russia.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence, had deprived 37 CIA employees of access to classified information. As a result, the agents were effectively deprived of the ability to perform their duties.
“Gabbard was unaware that one of these employees was working undercover,” the WSJ reports.
In addition, she disclosed the agent’s name, which is considered a criminal offense under U.S. law.
The CIA stated that disclosing the identity of the employee could jeopardize the agency’s cover system and also damage relations with foreign governments.
Gabbard’s office explained that most of the people on the list were involved in assessing Russia’s interference in the 2016 US presidential election, which Donald Trump won for the first time, or signed a letter calling for his impeachment in 2019.
“Director of National Intelligence Gabbard has ordered the revocation of security clearances to ensure that individuals who have abused the trust by politicizing, manipulating, or leaking intelligence no longer have access to such actions,” a spokeswoman for her office said.
Gabbard explained that she was acting on Trump’s instructions.
Earlier, it was announced that Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse, head of the Pentagon’s Intelligence Directorate, was fired in the United States. His agency had previously been skeptical about the possible consequences of US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
