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By Aila Slisco
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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.
In a statement emailed to Newsweek on Thursday evening, Trump transition spokesperson Alexa Henning said that the letter was "a perfect example of why President Trump chose Tulsi Gabbard for this position."
"These unfounded attacks are from the same geniuses who have blood on their hands from decades of faulty 'intelligence,' including the non-existent weapons of mass destruction," Henning said. "These intel officials continue to use classification as a partisan weapon to smear and imply things about their political enemy without putting the facts out."
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.
Update 12/5/24, 9:50 p.m. ET: This article has been updated to include a statement from Henning.
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