Trump's pick for top intel job has been accused of 'traitorous' parroting of Russian propaganda
Tulsi Gabbard, who has never worked in the intelligence world, has denied accusations that she promoted Kremlin disinformation.
President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence, former Democratic lawmaker Tulsi Gabbard, has been accused of amplifying Russian propaganda and would come to the job having never worked in the intelligence world or served on a congressional intelligence committee.
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 heavy-handed. She also has sharply criticized Trump in the past over his approach to the Middle East during his first presidential term, portraying him as dangerous.
As director of national intelligence, a position created in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Gabbard would oversee 18 intelligence agencies with a budget of about $70 billion and serve as the principal adviser to the president on intelligence matters. She would first need to be confirmed by the Senate, where Republicans will hold the majority starting in January.
In her public statements, Gabbard has often been at odds with the U.S. intelligence community’s assessments. If she is confirmed, her tenure would most likely be marked by clashes with government analysts who see Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government as the primary purveyor of disinformation designed to sow divisions in the U.S.
Outraged lawmakers accused Gabbard two years ago of echoing Russian propaganda after Gabbard posted a video on social media asserting “the undeniable fact” of purported bio labs funded by the U.S. across Ukraine. She did not specify, as Russian disinformation had, that they were biological weapons labs.
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