Will Tulsi Gabbard bring a pro-Russian bias to intelligence reporting?
Former officials and lawmakers fear Trump’s choice for director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, could bring a pro-Russian bias to intelligence reports.
Days after Russia launched an unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with missiles and artillery rounds raining down on Kyiv and other cities, former Democratic lawmaker Tulsi Gabbard posted a perplexing video message.
“It’s time to put geopolitics aside and embrace the spirit of aloha, respect and love, for the Ukrainian people by coming to an agreement that Ukraine will be a neutral country—i.e. no military alliance with NATO or Russia,” the former Hawaii congresswoman wrote on social media. Such an arrangement would “allow the Ukrainian people to live in peace. Aloha.”
Unlike her former colleagues in Congress and the leaders of Western democratic countries, Gabbard offered no condemnation of Russia and no reference to the unprovoked nature of the attack.
Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, at the Faith & Freedom Coalition's 2024 Road to Majority Conference, in Washington, DC., on June 21.Michael Brochstein / SOPA Images via Reuters fileFor Gabbard’s critics, the video message reflects an alarming pattern of siding with Russia and other authoritarian regimes, raising questions about whether she should serve as America’s top-ranking intelligence official. Her selection has alarmed lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, though most Republicans have refrained from public criticism.
If confirmed by the Senate as President-elect Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence (DNI), Gabbard would oversee 18 spy agencies and have the final say over what intelligence is delivered to the commander in chief.
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