Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s written testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday included a straightforward assessment: Iran’s nuclear enrichment program was “obliterated” by Operation Midnight Hammer in June 2025, and “there have been no efforts since then to try to rebuild their enrichment capability.”

She did not read that part aloud.

When Senator Mark Warner noted the omission and read the passage back to her, Gabbard said she had run short on time. Warner was unconvinced. “You chose to omit the parts that contradict the president,” he said.

The exchange cut to the central tension of the hearing. President Trump has repeatedly cited Iran’s nuclear ambitions as justification for the ongoing U.S.-Israeli military campaign. Yet his own intelligence chief’s prepared assessment — the one she elected not to deliver on camera — says the program no longer exists and no one is rebuilding it.

Senator Jon Ossoff pressed further, asking directly whether intelligence showed Iran had posed an “imminent nuclear threat.” Gabbard’s answer: “The only person who can determine what is and is not an imminent threat is the president.”

“False,” Ossoff replied. “You’re evading a question because a candid statement would contradict the White House.”

The hearing came one day after Joe Kent, Gabbard’s deputy at the National Counterterrorism Center, resigned in protest, stating that Iran posed “no imminent threat to our nation.” CIA Director John Ratcliffe, testifying alongside Gabbard, offered the administration’s line — that Iran posed “an immediate threat at this time” — though without specifying what that threat now consists of.

Gabbard did not dispute the accuracy of her written testimony. She simply chose not to say it where people were watching.

Sources