Gabbard fires NIC heads over Venezuela report contradicting admin.
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US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has dismissed the National Intelligence Council’s top two officials for contradicting Trump administration assertions linking Venezuela's government to the Tren de Aragua gang.
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US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard arrives before US President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House, on April 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
The US' Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, has dismissed the National Intelligence Council’s top two officials amid accusations of "politicizing intelligence", Fox News Digital reported on Wednesday.
The firings of acting NIC chair Mike Collins and his deputy, Maria Langan-Riekhof, followed a recent intelligence report from the council that contradicted assertions made by the Trump administration, linking Venezuela’s government to the Tren de Aragua gang, according to Axios.
The Trump administration has used this claim to invoke the wartime authority of the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) of 1798 to deport undocumented immigrants, a move critics argue involves little or no due process.
Gabbard’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Alexa Henning, stated on X that “these Biden holdovers were dismissed because they politicized intelligence.” She also said that “the leak of classified info was a NIC product, which is against the law, that is the issue,” countering a Washington Post report that suggested Gabbard had removed or sidelined officials perceived as unsupportive of Trump’s political agenda.
You are genuinely bad at your job but that is likely a prerequisite for WaPo.
— Alexa Henning (@alexahenning) May 14, 2025
No one from ODNI told you that, so of course you inject your own politically motivated opinion. That’s wrong but who cares about facts, right?
These Biden holdovers were dismissed because they… https://t.co/kccRnpUBrQ
'Politicization of Intelligence' and controversial ang Reports
Experts have expressed skepticism regarding the Trump administration’s claims about Tren de Aragua and the Mara Salvatrucha gang, commonly known as MS-13.
Gang experts say the threat posed by Tren de Aragua in the US is exaggerated and significantly smaller than officials have suggested.
Moreover, the administration has repeatedly labeled MS-13, a gang founded in Southern California by Central American refugees fleeing the 1980s civil wars, as a transnational gang. It has compared MS-13 to terrorist organizations and Mexican cartels.
A criminology professor at Texas State University and an MS-13 expert, Lidia E. Nuno, told Axios that MS-13 is primarily a street gang with little evidence of sophisticated transnational criminal operations like cartels or the mafia.
Supreme court clears Trump’s deportations under Alien Enemies Act
Last month, the US Supreme Court ruled on April 8 that the Trump administration can proceed with deportations under the AEA. The Court's 5-4 decision overturned a previous ruling by a Washington, DC District Court judge, who had temporarily blocked the federal government from deporting hundreds of people without a court hearing.
The mass deportations, which took place on March 15, sparked criticism due to the lack of court hearings for the detainees to contest their deportation. However, the Supreme Court's decision cleared the way for the administration to continue the deportations, provided that detainees are given notice and an opportunity to seek habeas relief before their removal.
The ruling specified, “AEA detainees must receive notice after the date of this order that they are subject to removal under the Act. The notice must be afforded within a reasonable time and in such a manner as will allow them to actually seek habeas relief in the proper venue before such removal occurs.”
