Dozens of former U.S. national security and intelligence officials are warning that Tulsi Gabbard, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for director of national intelligence, has “sympathy for dictators.”
In a letter published on Thursday by the group Foreign Policy for America, almost 100 former intelligence and national security officials told Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator John Thune, the incoming Republican majority leader, that Gabbard “aligned herself with Russian and Syrian officials” and would be “the least experienced” person to ever lead national intelligence.
The former officials argued that Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman who announced that she was joining the Republican Party at a Trump rally in October, embraced Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and “publicly cast doubt on U.S. intelligence reports” concerning Assad’s use of chemical weapons and the Russia-Ukraine war.
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“Several of Ms. Gabbard’s past actions call into question her ability to deliver unbiased intelligence briefings to the President, Congress, and to the entire national security apparatus,” the former officials wrote. “Her sympathy for dictators like Vladimir Putin and Assad raises questions about her judgment and fitness.”
“Ms. Gabbard, if confirmed, would be the least experienced Director of National Intelligence since the position was created,” they added. “The Senate must carefully evaluate whether Ms. Gabbard is equipped to effectively oversee an organizational structure as unique and large as the National Intelligence Program…”
The ex-officials went on to urge the Senate to hold “closed sessions” that would allow them to vet “all information available” before weighing whether to confirm Gabbard to Trump’s Cabinet.
Newsweek reached out for comment to the Trump transition team via email on Thursday night.
Joel Brenner, one of the ex-officials who signed the letter and a former head of counterintelligence under the director of national intelligence, said in a statement that Gabbard’s nomination was “an insult to our intelligence agencies and the thousands of people who labor in them night and day to keep our nation safe.”
“Incompetent, unqualified, erratic – these adjectives hardly begin to describe this lickspittle to our enemies, danger to our secrets, and wrecking ball to our capabilities,” said Brenner.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
