“You must be truly f*cking stupid if you think we’re not transparent.”

— Heather Cox Richardson 5/17/25

Truth Is Now Treason: The Trump Administration’s War on Intelligence

By Tony Pentimalli

In Washington, silence is now safety. Speak the truth, and you vanish.

That’s not hyperbole. It’s the doctrine of Donald Trump’s second term, where facts are no longer just inconvenient—they’re punishable.

Tulsi Gabbard, once a marginal outsider in American politics, is now the Director of National Intelligence. And last week, she carried out one of the most brazen political purges in modern U.S. intelligence history. She fired the top two officials at the National Intelligence Council: Michael Collins and Maria Rykoff. Their offense? Producing a sober, apolitical intelligence assessment that shattered the Trump administration’s entire legal pretext for mass deportations under the Alien Enemies Act.

Let that sink in. Two of the most respected, seasoned intelligence professionals in America—with over 60 years of combined service—were fired not for misconduct, but for accuracy.

The assessment they produced, dated April 7 and partially declassified days before their dismissal, examined whether Venezuela’s Maduro regime was directing the violent criminal network known as Tren de Aragua inside the United States. Their conclusion: No. While the Venezuelan government had created a permissive environment, there was no evidence of coordination or control. The gang was operating independently—not as a foreign arm of state-sponsored aggression.

That conclusion directly contradicted Trump’s March 15 executive order, which invoked the Alien Enemies Act—legislation originally passed in 1798 and previously used only three times in American history—to declare Tren de Aragua a national security threat acting on behalf of the Maduro regime.

The administration’s response? Not to retract, not to reevaluate—but to retaliate.

Collins and Rykoff were fired within a week. Not quietly. Not subtly. It was a message. And that message was heard throughout the intelligence community.
“This is not just a staffing decision,” said former CIA Director John Brennan. “This is a calculated act of political warfare against truth itself. Analysts across the community are terrified—not of the enemies abroad, but of the loyalty tests at home.”

These are not dramatic flourishes. These are the cold mechanics of authoritarianism—firing civil servants for delivering facts, then rewriting the narrative to fit political aims. And we’ve seen it before. At the CIA, diversity, equity, and inclusion officers have been reassigned or terminated. Climate analysts at the Pentagon have been purged. The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has been gutted. And DOJ voting rights lawyers who refused to follow politically motivated orders have found themselves under scrutiny or reassigned.

Gabbard’s transformation is emblematic. Once the voice of skepticism about regime change wars, she now enforces domestic political loyalty tests. Her betrayal of principle is not just ironic—it is catastrophic.

The Alien Enemies Act has never been used this way. In World War II, it was a legal scaffold for Japanese internment. In Trump’s hands, it has become a dragnet for migrants—many of whom are being funneled into El Salvador’s notorious Mariona prison, where overcrowding, disease, and abuse are systemic and well-documented by international observers.
And what happens when the intelligence no longer supports the policy? You fire the intelligence officers.

Rep. Jim Himes, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, laid it out plainly:

“Absent evidence to justify the firings, the workforce can only conclude that their jobs are contingent on producing analysis aligned with the President’s agenda, rather than truthful and apolitical assessments.”

And Congress has done what? No emergency hearings. No subpoenas. No public condemnation from the Senate Republicans who once claimed to be defenders of national security. Just silence—and silence is complicity.

Meanwhile, the international stakes grow more dire. Intelligence is not a domestic toy—it is the bedrock of America’s credibility abroad. Allies will now hesitate to share intelligence with a politicized agency. Foreign governments will question whether American briefings are based on data or dogma. And adversaries—Russia, China, Iran—are watching us cannibalize our own expertise.

This isn’t just about Collins and Rykoff. It’s about every future intelligence officer. What conclusion will they write when they know their job, their clearance, and their livelihood depend on aligning with a false narrative?

We should remember the timeline. In February, career analysts began pushing back. In March, Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act. In April, the NIC released its assessment. And in May, the firings began. That’s not a policy arc—it’s a descent into autocracy.

This is not theoretical. These decisions have real human cost. Thousands have already been deported under this false pretense. Families torn apart. Asylum-seekers handed over to brutal regimes. And a chilling silence from those tasked with safeguarding democracy.

Michael Collins and Maria Rykoff told the truth. They did their jobs. They served their country with integrity. For that, they were purged.

The firings must not be met with silence. Congress must investigate. Whistleblowers must be protected. The courts must demand accountability. And every American must understand: if the truth is now treason, then every one of us is in danger.

Because when speaking honestly becomes a punishable act, tyranny is no longer looming.

It’s here.

*Tony Pentimalli is a political analyst and commentator fighting for democracy, economic justice, and social equity. Follow him for sharp analysis and hard-hitting critiques on Facebook and BlueSky
@tonywriteshere.bsky.social
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