Over 100 Intelligence Officers Fired Over Explicit Online Chats, Tulsi Gabbard Announces

Washington, D.C. – February 26, 2025 – In a decisive move that has sent shockwaves through the U.S. intelligence community, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has ordered the termination of more than 100 intelligence officers found to have engaged in sexually explicit conversations on a secure government messaging platform. The unprecedented action, announced on Tuesday, also includes the revocation of the affected officers’ security clearances, marking a significant crackdown on misconduct within the nation’s spy agencies.

The scandal centers on the National Security Agency’s (NSA) Intelink platform, a highly secure system designed for intelligence professionals to collaborate on sensitive national security matters. Instead, a group of employees across 15 agencies allegedly misused the platform to exchange messages described as “obscene, pornographic, and sexually explicit,” including discussions about gender transition surgeries, fetishes, and other personal sexual topics. The revelations first surfaced through a report by conservative activist Christopher Rufo, published in City Journal, which included transcripts of the chats and prompted swift action from Gabbard’s office.

Speaking on Fox News Tuesday evening, Gabbard condemned the behavior as a “brazen” breach of trust and professionalism. “There are over 100 people from across the intelligence community that contributed to and participated in what is really just an egregious violation of trust,” she told host Jesse Watters. “I put out a directive today that they will all be terminated and their security clearances will be revoked.” She emphasized that the misuse of a platform intended for critical mission work undermined the integrity of the intelligence community, adding, “They were brazen in doing this because when was the last time anyone was really held accountable?”

Gabbard’s office wasted no time in responding. DNI spokesperson Alexa Henning confirmed via social media that a memo had been dispatched to all intelligence agencies, mandating the identification and dismissal of involved employees by Friday. “The DNI sent a memo directing all intelligence agencies to identify the employees who participated in the NSA’s ‘obscene, pornographic, and sexually explicit’ chatrooms and to terminate their employment and revoke their security clearances,” Henning stated. The NSA, meanwhile, acknowledged the controversy in a statement, noting that it was aware of “inappropriate discussions” and had launched an investigation into the misuse of its systems. “Potential misuse of these platforms by a small group of individuals does not represent the community,” the agency said.

The firings come as part of a broader push by the Trump administration, under which Gabbard serves, to reshape and “depoliticize” the intelligence community. Gabbard framed the dismissals as the beginning of a larger effort to restore public trust in the agencies. “Today’s action, in holding these individuals accountable, is just the beginning of what we are seeing across the Trump administration,” she said on Fox News. “Officials have moved to clean house, root out that rot and corruption, and weaponization and politicization, so we can start to rebuild that trust in these institutions.”

The controversy has also reignited debates over workplace culture and oversight within the intelligence community. Reports indicate that the explicit chats took place in channels originally established under diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, such as “LBTQA” and “IC_Pride_TWG,” which some employees allegedly exploited to discuss personal sexual matters during work hours. Critics, including researchers from the Manhattan Institute, have pointed to these findings as evidence of broader issues with DEI policies, a stance Gabbard echoed by linking the shutdown of the chat groups to an executive order from President Trump ending what she called “DEI insanity” from the prior administration.

This is not the only personnel shakeup under Gabbard’s tenure. Her office, alongside the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), has also moved to dismiss an undisclosed number of employees tied to diversity programs from the Biden era, though that effort remains under legal review following a federal judge’s temporary pause. Unlike those cases, where no misconduct has been alleged, the explicit chat scandal involves clear violations of professional conduct, providing Gabbard with firmer ground for immediate action.

The fallout from the terminations is already being felt. Gabbard noted that rank-and-file intelligence officers have begun stepping forward with additional reports of misconduct, signaling a potential wave of further accountability measures. “People are stepping forward because they are all on board with the mission to clean house and refocus on our core mission of serving the American people,” she said.

As the intelligence community braces for the Friday deadline, the incident raises pressing questions about oversight, accountability, and the balance between personal expression and professional responsibility in one of the nation’s most sensitive sectors. For now, Gabbard’s swift and uncompromising response underscores her intent to enforce a strict standard of conduct as she navigates her early days as Director of National Intelligence. 17GEN4.com