Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic lawmaker nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to be director of national intelligence, has been accused of amplifying Russian propaganda and has worked in the intelligence community and served on the Congressional Intelligence Committee. I ended up taking this job with no previous experience.
Gabbard, who served in the Hawaii Army National Guard and was deployed to Iraq with a medical unit, has long criticized U.S. foreign policy as imperial and authoritarian. She has also been harshly critical of Trump’s approach to the Middle East during his first term as president, describing him as dangerous.
As Director of National Intelligence, created in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Gabbard will oversee 18 intelligence agencies with a budget of about $70 billion and serve as the president’s chief adviser on intelligence issues. It will be. He must first be confirmed by the Senate, where Republicans will have a majority starting in January.
Gabbard has often conflicted with U.S. intelligence assessments in public statements. If she is confirmed, her tenure will be marked by clashes with government analysts who see Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government as a major purveyor of disinformation aimed at sowing division in the United States. most likely characterized by.
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Two years ago, outraged lawmakers criticized Gabbard after she posted a video on social media claiming “undeniable facts” about alleged U.S.-funded biotech labs across Ukraine. accused of being aligned with Russian propaganda. She did not explicitly state that they were biological weapons laboratories, as was the case with Russian disinformation.
The Ukrainian and U.S. governments, media outlets, and independent researchers all say there is no evidence for the claims emanating from Moscow.
Then-Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., said Gabbard embraced “actual Russian propaganda” and called it “treacherous.” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said Gabbard was “parroting Russian false propaganda.”
Gabbard sent a cease-and-desist letter over Romney’s comments, denied repeating Russian propaganda, and tweeted “‘Biolab,’ ‘Biological Weapons Lab,’ and ‘Biological Weapons,'” in another post. I tried to clarify my post to the media. are three completely different things. However, these phrases are so similar that misunderstandings and misunderstandings can occur when discussing them. I recently experienced this myself. ”
She also claimed that her critics were trying to “censor” her questions about the establishment in Washington.
“When powerful and influential people make baseless accusations of treason, a crime punishable by death, in order to intimidate, silence, and censor those who speak the truth, they undermine our democracy. “It has a chilling effect on principles,” she said.
The United States supports a civilian biological laboratory in Ukraine to protect public health, not a weapons laboratory. Russia has repeatedly spread falsehoods that the United States is funding a biological weapons laboratory in Ukraine.
Gabbard also criticized the Biden administration’s requirement that U.S. military personnel be vaccinated against the coronavirus.
According to a study by the Foreign Policy Research Institute, a Philadelphia-based think tank, Gabbard was often portrayed favorably in Russian state propaganda during her 2020 presidential bid, but Joe Biden He and other Democratic candidates were vilified.
Less than a month after her presidential campaign began, at least 20 Gabbard articles appeared on three major English-language websites affiliated with or supporting the Moscow-based Russian government, all of which praised her candidacy.
When Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Gabbard said war could have been prevented if the U.S. and Western countries were aware of Russia’s concerns about Ukraine potentially joining the NATO alliance. He said it might have been.
But a potential colleague in the second Trump administration, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, disagreed with Gabbard at the time.
“A pledge that Ukraine would never join NATO was not President Putin’s only demand,” Rubio told X. “We once again call for all member states to withdraw from NATO.”
Conspiracy theories about chemical attacks
Gabbard said in 2017 that she was “skeptical” that Syria was behind a chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of people there.
However, US intelligence, the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons all concluded that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime was behind the attack.
Immediately after the attack, Russia launched a disinformation campaign to deny Syria’s responsibility and promoted a fabricated narrative, U.S. officials said.
Gabbard faced criticism from members of her own party in 2015 when she called on the Obama administration to end support for the Syrian opposition movement against Bashar al-Assad.
“I don’t think President Assad should be removed,” she said at the time, adding that if he was overthrown, Islamic extremists would take power.
She traveled to Syria unannounced to meet Assad in 2017, even though the United States had severed diplomatic relations with Damascus and human rights groups accused Assad of committing atrocities to maintain power. . The trip sparked protests from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
She defended the trip. “When I had the opportunity to meet with him, what I did was that if we profess that we truly care about the Syrian people and their suffering, we will make sure that we are available to anyone who needs it. “Because I felt it was important that we have a chance of achieving peace,” Gabbard told CNN.
Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Virginia), a former CIA official, said Wednesday that she was “appalled” by President Trump’s choice of Gabbard.
“Not only is she unprepared and unqualified, she also peddles conspiracy theories and is collusive with dictators like Bashar al-Assad and Vladimir Putin,” Spanberger wrote about X. “As a member of the House Intelligence Committee, I am deeply concerned” about what this nomination means for national security. My Republican colleagues with backbone should speak up. ”
Throughout her career as a member of Congress from 2013 to 2021 and as a Democratic presidential candidate in 2020, Gabbard has often advocated progressive and dovish positions, questioning U.S. military intervention and foreign policy in the Middle East. presented. In 2016, she supported Sen. Bernie Sanders (R-Vt.) in the Democratic presidential race and retired from her position as a member of the Democratic National Committee.
Tolerance towards Assange and Snowden
During the 2020 Democratic presidential primary debate, Gabbard said, “The current wars of regime change, the overthrow of dictators in other countries, the Bushes, the Clintons, that are putting our fellow men in uniform into needlessly dangerous battles.” , an end to Trump’s foreign policy principles.” In a war that actually undermined our national security and cost thousands of American lives. ”
Gabbard announced she would leave the Democratic Party in 2022, and last month announced she would join the Republican Party.
She is accused of leaking large amounts of U.S. classified information that intelligence officials at the time said could seriously harm U.S. national security and U.S. allies. Julian Assange and Edward・I called for leniency towards Mr. Snowden.
Trump’s actions during his first term as president drew harsh criticism from Gabbard, who slammed his plan to build a wall on the southern border, his policy toward Iran, and his support for Saudi Arabia in its war against the Houthi rebels.
In 2018, President Trump took to social media after claiming that the United States strongly supported Saudi Arabia and that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had a role in the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. In a post, he called President Trump a “Saudi bastard.” It may never be known. Trump’s statement contradicted the CIA’s conclusion that the crown prince authorized Khashoggi’s murder.
Despite criticizing Trump, Gabbard voted in favor of both articles of impeachment against her in 2019 over allegations that she pressured Ukraine to dig up damaging information about her political rival Biden. ” cast a vote.
In 2020, Gabbard denounced President Trump’s decision to order a U.S. drone strike on Iranian Supreme Commander Qasem Soleimani, calling it a dangerous escalation and unconstitutional because Congress had not authorized the action. He said there is.
“The significance of President Trump’s actions last night is to violate the Constitution by taking military action and removing the commander-in-chief of another country’s military without any congressional authorization or declaration of war,” Gabbard said at the time. ” he said.
She also criticized President Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which imposed limits on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for relief from U.S. economic sanctions.
Gabbard is a native of Hawaii and began her political career at a young age. At the age of 21, she was elected to the state House of Representatives, making her the youngest person ever elected.
