Washington U.S. senators criticized former Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard Thursday for her previous remarks and behavior as she runs to become the next director of national intelligence.
Regarded as the most vulnerable Cabinet nominee by President Donald Trump, Gabbard has been embroiled in controversy due to her foreign policy beliefs, her contacts with former Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, and charges that she promoted Russian propaganda.
Concerns regarding Gabbard’s nomination have been raised by lawmakers from both parties.
If approved, Gabbard will assume a significant role in managing 18 intelligence community departments and organizations.
In addition, she would oversee a budget over $100 billion.
After running a failed 2020 Democratic presidential campaign, Gabbard—a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve—joined the Republican Party.
In a much-awaited confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee, she repeated Trump’s allegations of weaponization in the federal government, especially in the intelligence community.
If verified, Gabbard promised to fight to stop the politicization of the intelligence community.
Before Thursday’s hearing, Senate Intelligence panel chair Sen. Tom Cotton threw his support for Gabbard.
In his opening remarks, the Republican from Arkansas defended Gabbard, stating that he was appalled by the criticism on her patriotism and her devotion to our nation.
Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa and former Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina also commended Gabbard when they introduced the nominee, emphasizing her congressional record and military service.
According to Burr, a Republican who served as the Senate Intelligence panel’s previous chair, Gabbard participated in combat and has attempted to halt wars.
According to him, Tulsi, who is 43 years old, has life experience that is comparable to or more than that of the majority of members of Congress.
Sen. Mark Warner, the Senate panel’s ranking member, stated that he still has serious doubts about Gabbard’s judgment and suitability to meet the legal requirements.
The Democrat from Virginia stated, “It seems to me that you have consistently justified the worst acts of our enemies rather than placing the blame on the United States and those very allies.”
Gabbard refused to label former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, who released sensitive information about monitoring programs, a traitor during the contentious session.
Are Edward Snowden and the United States of America traitors? Sen. Michael Bennet, a Democrat from Colorado, repeatedly asked her the question, saying, “When the stakes are this high, that is not a hard question to answer.”
Together with then-Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, Gabbard presented a resolution in the House in 2020 that expressed the House’s opinion that the Federal Government should dismiss all charges against Edward Snowden.
Gabbard frequently claimed that Snowden had broken the law and voiced disapproval of both the scope of the information intelligence he revealed and the manner in which he chose to do it.
“My focus is on the future, and I think we can all agree that we don’t want another Snowden-type leak. If confirmed as (director of national intelligence), I’ve laid out specific actions to do that,” Gabbard said.
However, Gabbard stated that she would not support a pardon, if confirmed, when asked by Maine GOP Sen. Susan Collins if she would suggest any form of clemency for Snowden.
Senators also criticized Gabbard’s prior opinions regarding Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which permits the federal government to monitor foreign nationals abroad.
In 2020, Gabbard and Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie filed a measure to eliminate the program.
She has now changed her mind, though, and now supports Section 702, arguing that it offers a special security tool and capability that is crucial for our national security.
Additionally, Gabbard discussed her contentious 2017 meetings with Bashar al-Assad, the dictator of Syria at the time.
In her introductory remarks, Gabbard declared, “I have no love for Assad, Gaddafi, or any dictator.” I simply despise al-Qaida.
When Gabbard spoke with Assad, she reportedly questioned him harshly about the terrible tactics being used against his own people, the use of chemical weapons, and the conduct of his own regime.
She added that the war in Ukraine was initiated by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In earlier remarks, Gabbard seemed to attribute Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to NATO and the United States.
According to a February 2022 social media post, “This war and suffering could have easily been avoided if Biden Admin/NATO had simply acknowledged Russia’s legitimate security concerns regarding Ukraine’s becoming a member of NATO, which would mean US/NATO forces right on Russia’s border.”
