FILE PHOTO: Former Representative Tulsi Gabbard, U.S. President Donald Trump's nominee to be director of national intelligence, attends to testify before a Senate Intelligence Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 30, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photo
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said that more than 100 employees from across the intelligence community had been fired for using a secure government chat normally used to share sensitive information to participate in sexually explicit conversations.
In an interview with Fox News Tuesday night, Gabbard described their use of the National Security Administration tool as “an egregious violation of trust” that went against “basic rules and standards around professionalism.”
“I put out a directive today that they will all be terminated and their security clearances will be revoked,” Gabbard said.
Conservative activist Chris Rufo, who writes for City Journal, first disclosed the news Tuesday.
A spokesperson for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said on X Tuesday that Gabbard had sent a memo directing all intelligence agencies to identify the employees who participated in the “‘obscene, pornographic, and sexually explicit’ chatrooms’” by Friday.
In her Fox News interviews, Gabbard said that the administration would continue to "clean house."
The office has in recent weeks also moved to fire employees who led diversity initiatives in the Biden administration. It is not clear how many people throughout the intelligence community have been told that they will be fired. That effort has temporarily paused as a federal judge reviews the legality of the move.
(Reporting by Erin Banco; Editing by Don Durfee, William Maclean)
