Over 100 US intelligence staff fired over ‘sexual chats on official platform’: The case, how it came to light

How were the chats discovered? How is this case linked to the DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) programme that Donald Trump’s administration has been targetting, as part of which some intelligence officers have already been fired? We explain.

What did the employees allegedly discuss?

The matter came to light following an article in City Journal by conservative activist Christopher Rufo and journalist Hannah Grossman on February 24. The article is based on Intelink chat logs dating back two years provided by “one current employee and one former employee” of the NSA.

Some of the chats published in the article are about gender reorientation surgery and sexual experiences after that. The discussions also involve polyamory, and an employee who wanted to use the pronoun “it”.

“[I]t/its user here. While I understand we can make some people uncomfortable, keep in mind that the dehumanizing aspect either a) doesn’t apply or b) is a positive effect when we’re requesting it,” the chat, as quoted in the article, goes.

The report adds, “A commenter who disagreed was quickly dismissed by employees of the NSA and CIA, who claimed that refusing to use “it/its” pronouns amounted to “erasing” a transgender identity.”

How is this tied to the DEI initiative?

A few days after the original article, City Journal published an interview of the “whistleblower”. The article, also by Rufo, says, “This longtime NSA insider tells me that the ideological capture of the NSA began a decade ago. Trans activists have entrenched themselves in positions of power, pressured employees to undergo reeducation trainings, and compromised national security in the name of ideology.”

The longtime NSA insider then says, “About ten years ago, they started doing the “employee resource groups”: African-American, veterans, Pride. It was just a meeting here and there… Then it started to get more and more… You could be hired as a mathematician, a staff officer, or system engineer, but you would spend your time going to these events and having meetings all day about it.”

The NSA person also alleged that employees refused to probe someone over using a “dead” name — the name a person had before they changed their gender identity. “You had analysts that didn’t want to do the reporting they were supposed to be doing because they were going to have to report on somebody’s “dead name.” They were having this crisis of conscience about reporting the adversary’s actual name because they thought it was their “dead name,” and they didn’t want to disrespect the person.”

The whistleblower also said, “And outside of the sick stuff, you also see a prevalent Marxist philosophy going on with these people in their chat rooms. They hate capitalism. They hate Christians. They’re always espousing socialist and Marxist beliefs.”

Why were people in intelligence fired earlier?

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) last week fired some people who worked on DEI programmes. These people were not hired specially for the DEI roles, but were on rotation from other assignments, The Washington Post reported. Eleven of such employees have now moved court.