Veteran investigative journalist Catherine Herridge said newly declassified intelligence documents and interviews with a senior member of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s investigative team suggest some intelligence officials may have limited information provided to policymakers and President Donald Trump during the 2020 election.
Herridge discussed the documents during an appearance on NewsNation’s “Katie Pavlich Tonight,” where she reviewed records related to intelligence assessments concerning China’s alleged efforts to influence the 2020 U.S. election.
The documents were released in connection with President Donald Trump’s recent primetime address and include internal communications discussing how intelligence reporting was handled.
According to one Nov. 20, 2020, email cited by Herridge, a strategic intelligence analyst wrote that officials had “deliberately massaged our one pending PDB (President’s Daily Brief) to avoid any direct links to the election.”
Herridge said the newly released material aligns with previous whistleblower allegations claiming intelligence regarding China’s influence activities was downplayed or altered before reaching senior government officials.
She also described conversations with a senior member of Gabbard’s Director’s Initiatives Group, commonly known as the DIG, which has been reviewing intelligence community practices across several major investigations.
“In the last week, I’ve been speaking with a very senior member of Director Gabbard’s investigations team known as the DIG,” Herridge said during the interview.
According to Herridge, the source described what they believed was a pattern within portions of the intelligence community in which some officials viewed themselves as responsible for filtering information before it reached policymakers.
Herridge said the source claimed there was a belief among some officials that they needed to protect what was described as a “globalist view” while limiting information they believed could influence policy decisions, per Trending Politics.
According to Herridge’s account, the source alleged that this approach extended beyond China-related intelligence and included issues such as the Hunter Biden laptop story and other politically sensitive matters.
Herridge said the DIG has examined multiple subjects under Gabbard’s leadership, including the origins of COVID-19, Crossfire Hurricane, Havana Syndrome and domestic surveillance practices.
She noted that Gabbard’s team has previously identified what it described as analytical shortcomings in certain intelligence assessments, including selective exclusion of information and reliance on limited sourcing.
Herridge also discussed records involving Nikki Floris, a former senior FBI counterintelligence official.
According to Herridge, Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt? Wait correction source says Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) confirmed to her that Floris provided him and Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) with a defensive briefing in August 2020 regarding potential Russian disinformation.
Johnson told Herridge he believed the briefing related to congressional inquiries involving Hunter Biden’s laptop, and Herridge noted the timing overlapped with debates surrounding intelligence concerning China.
Herridge further reported that some declassified documents contained handwritten notes and editing marks referencing domestic political considerations, including concerns that certain intelligence could affect Trump’s reelection campaign.
She also said some intelligence reports discussing China’s influence operations were either excluded from the President’s Daily Brief or had their confidence assessments altered.
According to Herridge, the declassified records and interviews reviewed by her raise additional questions about how intelligence assessments were prepared and presented to senior U.S. officials during the 2020 election period.
