policy
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Republican senators pushed back Sunday against Democratic criticism that Tulsi Gabbard, Donald Trump's nominee to steer the U.S. intelligence community, is being “compromised” by her comments supporting Russia and secret meetings as a congresswoman . with the Syrian president, an in depth ally of the Kremlin and Iran.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois, a veteran of combat missions in Iraq, said she had concerns about Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's pick for director of national intelligence.
“I think she's compromised,” Duckworth said on CNN's “State of the Union,” referencing Gabbard's trip to Syria in 2017, where she held talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad. Gabbard was a Democratic House member from Hawaii on the time.
“U.S. intelligence has determined that she has troubling relationships with America’s enemies. That’s why I’m concerned that she didn’t pass the background check,” Duckworth said.
Gabbard, who announced last month that she was joining the Republican Party, served within the Army National Guard for greater than 20 years. She deployed to Iraq and Kuwait and received a Combat Medical Badge in 2005 for “participating in combat operations under enemy fire in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom III,” in response to the Hawaii National Guard.
Duckworth's comments sparked immediate backlash from Republicans.
“For her to say such ridiculous and downright dangerous words is wrong,” Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Oklahoma, said on CNN, calling on Duckworth to retract her words. “That’s the most dangerous thing she can say – that a U.S. lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army is compromised and an asset to Russia.”
In recent days, other Democrats have accused Gabbard, without evidence, of being a “Russian asset.” Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, has claimed, without giving details, that Gabbard is in Russian President Vladimir's “hands on Putin.”
Mullin and others say Democrats' criticism is rooted within the incontrovertible fact that Gabbard left her party and have become an ally of Trump. Democrats fear that Gabbard's selection as national intelligence chief will jeopardize relations together with his allies and hand Russia a victory.
Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat who was just elected to the Senate, said he wouldn't call Gabbard a Russian asset but said she had “very questionable judgment.”
“The problem is, if our foreign allies don't trust the head of our intelligence community, they will stop sharing information with us,” Schiff said on NBC's “Meet the Press.”
In 2022, Gabbard confirmed one among Russia's justifications for invading Ukraine: the existence of dozens of U.S.-funded biolabs working on a number of the world's worst pathogens. The labs are a part of a world effort to regulate outbreaks and stop bioweapons, but Moscow claimed Ukraine was using them to provide deadly bioweapons. Gabbard said she was simply raising concerns in regards to the safety of the labs.
Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Missouri, said he thought it was “completely ridiculous” that Gabbard was portrayed as a Russian activist due to his different political beliefs.
“It's insulting. Frankly, it's an insult. There is no evidence that she is an asset to another country,” he said on NBC.
Sen. James Lankford, one other Republican from Oklahoma, admitted he has “a lot of questions” for Gabbard because the Senate considers her nomination to steer the intelligence community. Lankford said on NBC that he desired to ask Gabbard about her meeting with Assad and a few of her past comments about Russia.
“We want to know what the purpose was and what direction it took. As a member of Congress, we want the opportunity to discuss past comments she has made and put them into full context,” Lankford said.
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