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Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced she was ending the work of a task force that sought to reform the U.S. intelligence community, including rooting out what she described as the politicization of intelligence gathering, after less than a year since its creation.
Gabbard established the group in April, when it was also tasked with probing ways to reduce spending on intelligence and whether reports on high-profile topics such as COVID-19 should be declassified.
In a statement on Wednesday, Gabbard said the task force’s work was always intended to be temporary after she was tapped to oversee coordination of the 18 U.S. intelligence agencies.
“In less than one year, we’ve brought a historic level of transparency to the intelligence community,” Gabbard said in her statement. “My commitment to transparency, truth, and eliminating politicization and weaponization within the intelligence community remains central to all that we do.”
TULSI GABBARD DENIES WRONGDOING OVER DELAYED WHISTLE-BLOWER COMPLAINT REFERRAL TO CONGRESS MEMBERS: ‘BASELESS’
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced she was ending the work of a task force that sought to reform the U.S. intelligence community. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
The number of officers assigned to the task force, as well as their identities, are classified, according to Gabbard’s office.
The officers will now return to other intelligence agencies to continue the work the group started, her office added.
The group sparked criticism against Gabbard after its creation, with Democrats and some intelligence insiders raising questions about whether it would be used to undermine intelligence agencies and bring them under tighter control of President Donald Trump.
Sen. Mark Warner, D-VA, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said last year that the group appeared to be a “pass for a witch hunt” designed to target…
