Today, Jess, Martha, Les and Jeffrey unpack comments and messaging shared by Tulsi Gabard, Director of National Intelligence. In a recent video, Gabbard warned that “warmongers and political elites” are pushing the U.S. toward nuclear war, while her congressional testimony downplayed Iran’s nuclear threat. At the same time, Gabbard has introduced a more centralized review process for intelligence reports, drawing some concern within the intelligence community.

Does Gabbard’s nuclear rhetoric echo broader narratives—like Russian disinformation—designed to stoke fear of nuclear war?  Is Gabbard’s direct message to the public common for the ODNI? How might the new intelligence reporting oversight affect the objectivity and credibility of the assessments?

Check out the answers to these questions and more in this episode of Fault Lines.

Check out the sources that helped shape our Fellows’ discussion: 

https://www.axios.com/2025/06/11/tulsi-gabbard-intelligence-leaks-deep-state

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/gabbard-considering-ways-revamp-trumps-intelligence-briefing-rcna209805

https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/5215194-iran-nuclear-weapons/ 

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/tulsi-gabbard-video-nuclear-war-bomb-shelters-rcna212317 

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@NotTVJessJones

@marthamillerdc

@lestermunson 

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