Summary

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard fired National Intelligence Council Acting Chair Mike Collins and Deputy Maria Langan-Riekhof after they contradicted Trump’s claims about the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

A declassified NIC report found no Maduro-directed effort behind TDA’s U.S. activity, opposing Trump’s justification for suspending Venezuelan migrants’ due-process rights.

Whistleblowers accused the officials of undermining Trump. Gabbard is relocating the NIC from the CIA to her office.

Critics warned the firings suggest intelligence is being shaped to suit political agendas, not facts.

  • punksnotdead@slrpnk.net
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    11 hours ago

    Nick Robinson and Laura Kuenssberg were by no means unbias (particularly Kuenssberg) and they were both previous BBC Political Editors:

    https://www.thenational.scot/politics/24627111.laura-kuenssberg-worst-moments-boris-johnson-deleted-tweets/

    The BBC were also found to be bias during the Scottish independence referendum:

    https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocracyuk/bbc-bias-and-scots-referendum-new-report/

    And they’ve had journalists call out pro-Israel bias:

    In November 2024, 230 members of the media industry including 101 anonymous BBC staff wrote a letter to Tim Davie accusing the BBC of providing favourable coverage towards Israel and failing its own editorial standards by lacking “consistently fair and accurate evidence-based journalism in its coverage of Gaza”.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_BBC

    The BBC are a giant government funded media company, they know how to present a good image of themselves and have years of good publicity and marketing to solidify that image. But be under no illusion that they are unbias. They push political agendas as much as any American private news organisation, just with more subtlety and an air of professionalism and officialdom to more legitimise their stance.

    That’s not to say they don’t do good journalism or can’t be used as a credible source at times. But just to remember that they too are bias and have masters who push agendas.

    Edit: to add more context:

    https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/apr/22/bbc-tells-pm-evan-davis-to-stop-hosting-heat-pump-podcast

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/stephen-doughty-labour-mp-s-jeremy-corbyn-onair-resignation-prearranged-by-the-bbc-a6801846.html

    • mrbutterscotch@feddit.org
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      17 hours ago

      Well yes, there is no such thing as an unbiased news agency. That doesn’t exist. But the bbc is in no way comparable to American News such as cnn and fox news

      • punksnotdead@slrpnk.net
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        16 hours ago

        Did you read any of my sources?

        The BBC doesn’t outright say red is blue, because they’re not idiots and their target audience aren’t idiots, but to state they’re not comparable flies in the face of reason. They have shown on multiple occasions to push agendas, to the point that the criticism page on Wikipedia is huge. They are not the bastion of good journalism that they’re held up to be by the general public.

        The Guardian has it’s flaws too of course but that is a far far better source than the BBC. It doesn’t claim to be unbias, it doesn’t lie to you that you’ll hear fair and even coverage from “both sides”, it doesn’t give preferential treatment to the ruling party in government because of fears its funding will be removed.

        Edit: What’s scarier? An obvious bias source screaming nonsense 24/7 or a supposed unbias source subtly distorting facts when it suits them? Which will have more influence on public perception? Which is a better propaganda machine?

        • Auli@lemmy.ca
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          15 hours ago

          Well it’s already proven the biased source yelling at you 24/7 is the better propaganda machine.

          • punksnotdead@slrpnk.net
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            14 hours ago

            Proven? Is it? Care to provide some sources or argument beyond just an assertion? An administration does not an empire make.

            It’s intriguing that posts with references get downvoted but posts without get upvoted. Great critical thinking Lemmy users 👍

      • punksnotdead@slrpnk.net
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        13 hours ago

        Because English is an arse of a language and I am a dumb dumb 🙃

        A dumb dumb capable of providing credible sources though, which is funny considering the downvotes and the context of this thread. Maybe y’all aren’t as different from Gabbard as you think…