DNI Gabbard Makes Big Move Following Intel Leaks To Press
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is tightening the reins on America’s intelligence community — ordering a sweeping review to determine whether employees and contractors should undergo random polygraph tests to expose leakers inside the government.
According to Just the News, the directive, issued within the past month, instructs U.S. intelligence agencies to evaluate the feasibility of implementing random polygraphs that include targeted questions about media contacts and unauthorized disclosures of classified information.
The move marks one of the Trump administration’s strongest steps yet to combat the kind of deep-state leaks that have plagued Washington since President Donald J. Trump’s return to the White House.
“Since the start of President Trump’s second term, we have seen numerous unauthorized disclosures of classified information, which have the potential to damage U.S. strategic alliances and credibility and endanger sources and methods vital to intelligence gathering,” DNI spokesperson Olivia Coleman told CBS News.
“The fact that deep state actors leaked information about DNI Gabbard’s directive, aimed at preventing leaks and protecting classified information, to the media is both deeply ironic and a powerful reminder of why her efforts to identify and deter leakers is urgently necessary,” she added.
Officials familiar with the directive told CBS News that the review does not establish a new policy but reinforces long-standing national security protocols governing the protection of classified material. The initiative follows the recent indictment of former FBI Director James Comey, who faces charges of making false statements to Congress after denying he leaked information to reporters.
Sources say Gabbard’s memo specifically calls for polygraph questions about unauthorized disclosures to the press — a signal that leak prevention will now be a permanent fixture of internal counterintelligence procedures.
An official with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) told CBS that a noticeable drop in polygraph testing in recent years may have emboldened some former intelligence officials to spy for foreign adversaries.
While Gabbard’s directive does not yet mandate additional screenings, officials say it lays the groundwork for more aggressive monitoring across the intelligence community.
The policy echoes steps taken under previous administrations following major security breaches, such as the Edward Snowden leaks during Barack Obama’s presidency. Then–DNI James Clapper ordered intelligence agencies to question applicants and staff about any prior contact with journalists — an approach later criticized by press freedom groups but defended by national security officials as essential to protecting classified information.
Both the Obama and George W. Bush administrations expanded polygraph use and authorized surveillance of officials and reporters in leak investigations under the Espionage Act — a century-old statute originally designed to prosecute spies.
Gabbard has already made multiple criminal referrals to the Department of Justice over suspected leaks, including one involving the Venezuelan criminal network Tren de Aragua and an alleged illegal disclosure to The Washington Post. A third referral, she said earlier this year, is forthcoming.
While critics claim such measures could “chill” communications between journalists and whistleblowers, Gabbard’s allies argue the clampdown is long overdue. Under President Trump’s leadership, they say, the administration is finally moving to dismantle entrenched networks of unelected bureaucrats who have long undermined national security and the will of the American people.