Top Democrat says intel visit canceled after Laura Loomer's online attacks
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Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) in Washington, D.C., earlier this year. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chair Mark Warner (D-Va.) said Wednesday his "long-scheduled" classified intelligence agency meeting was canceled after far-right activist Laura Loomer attacked him online.
The big picture: Warner questioned whether Loomer is a member of President Trump's Cabinet, saying she was behind the firings of the National Security Agency/U.S. Cyber Command chief and the Defense intel agency boss.
![A screenshot of Sen. Mark Warner tweet, saying in part: "For years, I’ve conducted listening sessions for members of our Intel Community as a key part of my role on the Intel Committee [until] ... Laura Loomer got involved and got one of my visits canceled. Who's calling the shots in this admin?"](https://images.axios.com/kpOMzusKCEaIqGWv-_HkLNrigfM=/2025/09/04/1756946609479.jpeg)
- She also "got 37 individuals'" security clearances revoked by National Intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard after the conspiracy theorist targeted them online, Warner said in a video posted to YouTube Wednesday evening.
- "When is the purge going to end? This is the kind of thing that happens in authoritarian regimes," Warner told reporters Thursday. "You purge your independent intelligence community and make them loyal not to a constitution but something else."
Driving the news: Warner said in a video post to X that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth "bowed down" to Loomer and canceled his visit to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency's headquarters in Springfield, Virginia, after she criticized him and Navy Vice Adm. Frank "Trey" Whitworth, the NGA's director, on the platform.
- Representatives for the White House, Pentagon and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence did not immediately respond to Axios' Wednesday evening request for comment.
Zoom in: Loomer wrote in a Sunday post to X that she had a "SCOOP" on the classified meeting.
- "Why are the Pentagon and IC allowing for the Director of an Intel agency to host a rabid ANTI-TRUMP DEMOCRAT SENATOR at NGA under the Trump administration?" Loomer wrote.
- "Clearly, a lot of Deep State actors are being given a pass in the Intel community to continue their efforts to sabotage Trump under the Trump admin."
- Addressing Gabbard via her X handle, Loomer added: "How do you feel about this Leftist Senator talking s*** about you while being welcomed inside NGA for a 'fireside chat'? I'm told NGA is infested with Trump haters because Whitworth was a Biden appointee and all of his people are still there."
The other side: Loomer wrote on X Wednesday evening that Warner is "a threat to our national security" with "no credibility."
- Warner "weaponized our intelligence agencies to push the debunked Russia Collusion Hoax," she said in an apparent reference to a 2020 Senate Intelligence Committee report on Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Context: The panel affirmed the intel community's conclusion that Russia interfered in the election.
- Republicans on the panel said there was "no evidence that the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government to influence" the results, but Democrats including Warner disputed this.
Go deeper: Multiple firings on Trump's National Security Council after Loomer visit
