WASHINGTON — Tulsi Gabbard, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to oversee the nation’s 18 intelligence agencies, is a woman of strong views, vigorously expressed.
A former Bernie Sanders Democrat, she now says the Democratic Party is controlled by “an elitist cabal of warmongers” that includes “rogue intelligence and law enforcement agents.” President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, she wrote recently, are merely puppets of that cabal.
A staunch anti-interventionist who opposes almost any use of U.S. military force, the former congresswoman from Hawaii blames Biden — not Vladimir Putin — for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
All of which echoes Trump’s views, especially his conviction that the FBI, CIA and other national security agencies have plotted ceaselessly against him.
On the other hand, during Trump’s first term in the White House, she also complained that he was too tough on Iran and denounced him for acting like “Saudi Arabia’s bitch.”
This year, though, she rallied to his side and endorsed him for promising to seek a thaw with Russia. She was a frequent, telegenic surrogate for his campaign on Fox News. No wonder Trump decided she was the perfect choice to guard the nation’s secrets as director of national intelligence.
National security veterans from both parties are not only unimpressed; they’re alarmed.
“We normally look for demonstrated competence in a nominee,” said Gregory F. Treverton, a former top intelligence official during the Obama administration who now teaches at USC. “This is a case of demonstrated incompetence. … She was obviously selected solely because she’s loyal to Trump.”
“I think she’s a serious threat to our national security,” John Bolton, who served as Trump’s national security advisor during his first term, said in a television interview. “Her judgment is nonexistent.”
Among Republicans in the Senate, Gabbard’s nomination elicited a few glowing endorsements — but an impressive list of noncommittal statements.
“That’s a nominee that illustrates the importance of a full background check,” said Susan Collins of Maine, one of the GOP senators who helped sink the nomination of former Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general last month.
Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma said he “will have a lot of questions.” “It’s really important that we have leadership there that’s able to support” the intelligence agencies, he added.
Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, formerly the GOP’s second-ranking Senate leader, gave a speech praising most of Trump’s national security nominees by name — but left Gabbard conspicuously off the list. A Cornyn aide declined to say whether the omission was deliberate.
To Senate-watchers, the meaning of all that terseness was clear: If any of Trump’s nominees are in danger, Gabbard is at the top of the list.
Her long record as a foreign policy dissident under both Democratic and Republican presidents will give Senate hawks plenty to scrutinize — and, perhaps, to excoriate.
She not only blamed Biden for Russia’s war on Ukraine (she claims he failed to acknowledge Putin’s “legitimate security concerns” and demanded the United States cut off military aid to Kyiv.