Gabbard announces she axed an alleged Biden-era censorship office during ODNI downsizing

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on Wednesday revealed that she eliminated the Biden administration's Foreign Malign Influence Center, which she claimed worked with social media companies to censor conservative voices.

The elimination comes as part of Gabbard's broader reorganization plan of the U.S. intelligence community, which included cutting hundreds of positions inside her own office. Gabbard predicted the cuts will save taxpayers more than $700 million per year.

Gabbard spoke to Fox News' host Jesse Watters about the massive reorganization plan, including about the little-known influence center that she claimed was politicized to undermine free speech among those who opposed the administration.

"This was created under the Biden administration, and ultimately it has been used, and this is documented ... It was essentially used as a means to censor Americans' free speech," she said. "This center was going and working with different social media companies saying, 'Well, this is disinformation, or misinformation. We have to censor these dissenting voices who are being critical' of the then-Biden administration. 

"So that's one example of [them] once again not conducting our core national security mission, but actually existing as a means to politicize intelligence, and in this case, censor the free speech of Americans, which is a direct contradiction and undermining of our fundamental constitutional rights," she added.

Gabbard's office was created to be a small oversight agency after the September 11, 2001, terror attacks exposed systemic intelligence and law enforcement failures. Over the years, the agency ballooned to between 1,750 and 2,000 employees.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.