Former CIA officers gather for 'Deep State plot' party
Event reportedly celebrated laid-off transgender officer and discussed return to intelligence roles.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
Former CIA officers gather for 'Deep State plot' party
Photograph: WND (embedded from source)
What this story says
- Former intelligence community officers who claimed to have been "silenced or purged" by the Trump administration met at a gay karaoke bar in Virginia.
- The gathering was partly to celebrate Julia Curlee, a former CIA analyst who was the first openly transgender officer at the agency and was laid off during Donald Trump's second term.
- An invitation to the party reportedly read, "Come join the Deep State plot against the regime."
- Curlee wrote in an August 17 op-ed that the Trump White House needed her until her gender identity became public.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 6 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. Coverage measured .
Trust
78/100
Craft
95/100
Hype
52/100
6 sources · methodology
Thin on the left so far
None of the 6 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
Former officers from the intelligence community who stated they were "silenced or purged" by the Trump administration gathered for a party in Virginia. The event, described as a "resignation party soiree," took place at a gay karaoke bar. It was organised in part to celebrate former CIA analyst Julia Curlee, who was the first openly transgender officer at the agency. Curlee was laid off during Donald Trump's second term.
According to intelligence correspondent Sasha Ingber, who wrote about the event on her Substack, an invitation to the party included the phrase, "Come join the Deep State plot against the regime." Ingber also reported that attendees expressed anger at being "reduced to 'DEI,' at not being able to [keep] using their invaluable expertise to serve a country they had sworn to protect."
Curlee authored an op-ed in The Atlantic on August 17, asserting that the Trump White House required her services until her gender identity became public knowledge. She wrote that Trump officials knew she was transgender from the start, but it became an issue only after it was public, overshadowing her service and war-zone tours.
Disagreement on Curlee's departure
The WND report states that Julia Curlee was laid off earlier in President Donald Trump’s second term. The same report also quotes Curlee’s op-ed in The Atlantic, where she wrote, "The Trump White House needed me, until the fact that I am trans became public."
What the coverage left out
None of the right-rated reports mention the specific date of the party or the names of any other individuals who attended, beyond Julia Curlee. The reports also do not include any comment from Julia Curlee herself, stating she could not be reached for comment at the time of reporting.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 4 times, most recently on 25 Aug 2026, 06:15, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated left has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Centre
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated centre has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Right
6 rated outlets
- The right-rated reports focused on the gathering of former intelligence officers who felt "silenced or purged" by the Trump administration. They highlighted the "Deep State plot" framing of the party invitation and the event's location at a gay karaoke bar. The WND report, which is a full report, quoted Sasha Ingber describing attendees' anger at being "reduced to 'DEI'" and their desire to return to service. It also detailed Curlee's op-ed about her departure from the CIA.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Former CIA officers gather for 'Deep State plot' party?
- Of the 6 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 0% are rated left, 0% are rated centre, 100% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Former CIA officers gather for 'Deep State plot' party left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 6 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of Former CIA officers gather for 'Deep State plot' party biased?
- Former CIA officers gather for 'Deep State plot' party is one event reported by 6 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Former CIA officers gather for 'Deep State plot' party?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Former CIA officers gather for 'Deep State plot' party?
- 6 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- What was the 'Deep State plot' party?
- It was a gathering of former intelligence community officers who felt "silenced or purged" by the Trump administration. The event, held at a gay karaoke bar in Virginia, was partly to celebrate former CIA analyst Julia Curlee.
- Who is Julia Curlee?
- Julia Curlee is a former CIA analyst and the first openly transgender officer at the agency. She was laid off during Donald Trump's second term and wrote an op-ed about her departure.
- What did the party invitation say?
- According to intelligence correspondent Sasha Ingber, the invitation to the party included the phrase, "Come join the Deep State plot against the regime."
Read it at the source
6 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Centre
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Right
6- "Purged" CIA Officials Plan Their Return at "Deep State Plot" Party at Sodomite Karaoke Bar (opens 🔔 The Liberty Daily in a new tab)
🔔 The Liberty Daily — is 🔔 The Liberty Daily biased? Our profile of this outlet
- ‘Razor-like resoluteness’: ‘Purged’ CIA officials plan their return at ‘Deep State plot’ party at gay karaoke bar (opens OpsLens in a new tab)
- ‘Razor-like resoluteness’: ‘Purged’ CIA officials plan their return at ‘Deep State plot’ party at gay karaoke bar * WorldNetDaily * by Ireland Owens, Daily Caller News Foundation (opens WND in a new tab)
- ‘Purged’ CIA Officials Plan Their Return At ‘Deep State Plot’ Party At Gay Karaoke Bar (opens [your]NEWS in a new tab)
[your]NEWS — is [your]NEWS biased? Our profile of this outlet
- ‘Purged’ CIA Officials Plan Their Return At ‘Deep State Plot’ Party At Gay Karaoke Bar (opens The Daily Caller in a new tab)
The Daily Caller — is The Daily Caller biased? Our profile of this outlet
- ‘Purged’ CIA Officials Plan Their Return At ‘Deep State Plot’ Party At Gay Karaoke Bar (opens Independent Journal Review in a new tab)
Independent Journal Review — is Independent Journal Review biased? Our profile of this outlet
Not rated
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
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