The chief of staff in Tulsi Gabbard’s office of the Director of National Intelligence was caught up in a leak revealing that he ordered officials to rewrite assessments on Venezuelan gang activity to align with Trump’s claims.
The New York Times reports that the Trump administration initially found no legal basis to deport Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act. That’s what led Gabbard’s office to push for edits in the reports — to justify linking the migrants to the Venezuelan government, despite lacking any real evidence. Which certainly tracks with the entire alleged fake knuckle tattoo saga.
The original report did not support Trump’s claims that the Tren de Aragua gang was working directly with the Venezuelan government. The narrative pushed by Trump’s camp suggested the gang had been ordered by their government to commit crimes in the United States — and therefore, the administration could invoke the Alien Enemies Act. But as journalists, Congress, and the courts began combing through the paperwork, it became clear officials were scrambling to cover their tracks.
The Daily Beast reports that Joe Kent, Gabbard’s chief of staff, wrote an email saying, “We need to do some rewriting so this document is not used against the DNI or POTUS.” The message, sent on April 3rd, went out to other intelligence officials.
This marks the latest instance of the Trump administration’s long-standing habit of politicizing the intelligence community. According to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, this kind of interference is part of why the U.S. intelligence apparatus continues to struggle with public trust. And that’s not even accounting for what FBI Director Kash Patel has been up to in his new role — where, reportedly, he’s been more focused on upgrading his party life than finding ways to serve Americans.
The unfortunate blowback for Trump is that this saga provides more ammunition for critics who have long accused his administration of harboring authoritarian ambitions. The idea that he’s actively breaking the law and then trying to bury the evidence further proves he’s playing a dangerous game with power.
Kent has also reportedly been pressuring the intelligence community to directly tie the Biden administration to what he calls “a migrant crisis” at the southern border. He claims Biden created a travel service for undocumented immigrants to enter as they please. But given Kent’s loose and creative relationship with the truth, it remains to be seen how he plans to pitch that to the public.
The Trump administration often proposes ideas that sound ridiculous at first — both in how they’re staged and how they’re presented. But he is, in fact, serious. That’s something worth keeping in mind. When he pledged to deport migrants by all means necessary, he meant it — even if it meant suspending laws, fabricating evidence, or ignoring court orders altogether. The same went for his “big beautiful bill.” Regardless of what experts said, he made sure it passed the House.
Still, there’s a chance the tide could turn — if accurate reporting continues and the public stays informed through to the midterm elections.
