Tulsi Gabbard Uninvited From Iran Briefing Because She 'Was Going to Refuse' to Say What Trump Wanted, Democrat Suggests

U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was uninvited from the Trump administration's top-secret briefing on the Iran strikes because she was expected to refuse to echo what President Donald Trump wanted to hear, a U.S. Senator claimed.

Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy revealed during a CNN interview with Kaitlan Collins Thursday that he thought it was "really interesting" Gabbard "was not allowed in the room."

"I've never, ever been part of a major Cabinet-level classified briefing where the Director of National Intelligence was banned from the room," Murphy stated in a clip shared on X by Collins. He suggested the reason for Gabbard's exclusion was that she "was likely going to refuse to say what the administration wants, which was that Iran's nuclear program was 'obliterated.'" Murphy added that he believed Gabbard was deliberately left out "because she was going to tell some version of the truth."

"You think they didn't invite her because they wouldn't like what she had to say?" Collins asked. While Murphy conceded he was not certain why Gabbard was absent from the meeting, there had to have been a reason.

"It's well-known that when it comes to the pre-strike intelligence, Gabbard was telling a story that was very familiar to us—that Iran was still a long way away from a deliverable nuclear weapon and that the regime had not made the choice to actually pursue or speed towards a nuclear weapon."

The Democratic senator explained that, if that were the case, Trump would have needed Congressional authorization to move forward with the strike.

"I have to assume that there was some story she was going to tell, some interpretation of the intelligence she was going to give today that rubbed the White House the wrong way," Murphy continued, reiterating that there was no other reason a person in Gabbard's role "would not be leading a classified briefing on the interpretation of intelligence regarding" the strikes.

Following Thursday's briefing, Murphy reaffirmed his stance that the Trump administration's strike did not, as claimed, obliterate Iran's nuclear program. Iran also disputed the report, stating that the damage sustained was reparable.