BREAKING: Tulsi Gabbard Announces New Intelligence On Destruction Of Iran’s Nuclear Sites

National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard on Wednesday confirmed that reporting from CNN and the New York Times, which cites anonymous sources claiming Iran’s nuclear sites were not sufficiently damaged by last week’s strikes, relies on cherry-picked segments from the Pentagon’s damage assessment.

Both outlets have claimed that “early U.S. intelligence assessments” indicate that the strikes were not as effective as previously thought. “The analysis of the damage to the sites and the impact of the strikes on Iran’s nuclear ambitions is ongoing, and could change as more intelligence becomes available. But the early findings are at odds with President Donald Trump’s repeated claims that the strikes “completely and totally obliterated” Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities,” CNN reported.

The story cites an anonymous source familiar with the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency, as well as a battle damage assessment from U.S. Central Command.

Both outlets have claimed that the strikes on Iran’s Fordow uranium enrichment site — the heavily-fortified facility that was targeted by multiple bunker buster bombs — is largely surface-level and can be re-built relatively quickly.

Senior members of the Trump Administration, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and President Trump himself, have described the strikes as a major success that “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear capabilities for the foreseeable future. The Pentagon has also announced that the FBI is assisting with an active investigation into identifying the source of the leaks.

On Wednesday, Gabbard issued her first direct response to the reports by noting that they withheld key details and took others out of context.

“New intelligence confirms what [President Trump] has stated numerous times: Iran’s nuclear facilities have been destroyed. If the Iranians chose to rebuild, they would have to rebuild all three facilities (Natanz, Fordow, Esfahan) entirely, which would likely take years to do,” Gabbard posted on X.

“The propaganda media has deployed their usual tactic: selectively release portions of illegally leaked classified intelligence assessments,” she continued. The DNI director then revealed that the reports in question only consisted of initial battle damage assessments that were written with “low confidence.”

This, Gabbard said, represents a clear effort to, “undermine President Trump’s decisive leadership and the brave servicemen and women who flawlessly executed a truly historic mission to keep the American people safe and secure.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth addressed both the New York Times and CNN by name in a press conference at the NATO summit in the Netherlands on Wednesday.

“These pilots, these refuelers, these fighters, these air defenders. The skill and the courage it took to go into enemy territory flying 36 hours on behalf of the American people and the world to take out a nuclear program. It is beyond what anyone in this audience can fathom,” Hegseth told a hushed crowd.

He then singled out CNN and the New York Times for following their “instinct” to allegedly challenge the bravery and competence of U.S. service members participating in Operation Midnight Hammer. “Then the instinct of CNN and New York Times is to try to find a way to spin it for their own political reasons to try to hurt President Trump or our country.”