100 National Security Officials Sign Letter Demanding Closed Door Hearings on Tulsi Gabbard
Donald Trump's nomination of Tulsi Gabbard to lead the U.S. intelligence community has caused alarm, with nearly 100 national security officials penning an open letter to Senators John Thune and Chuck Schumer asking for closed door hearings for senators to receive briefings on Trump's controversial pick.
If appointed to the office of Director of National Intelligence, Gabbard would oversee 18 agencies, including the CIA, FBI, and NSA, and would have tremendous influence interpreting and relaying the highest level of classified material to the president.
The letter urges Thune and Schumer, the new Senate Majority and Minority Leaders respectively, to allow senators to review "all information available to the U.S. government" on Gabbard prior to holding her confirmation vote. The letter cites Gabbard's "sympathy for dictators like Vladimir Putin and Assad" and raises questions about her "judgement and fitness."
"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 letter reads. "Following her trip to Syria, for example, Ms. Gabbard aligned herself with Russian and Syrian officials."
"She publicly cast doubt on U.S. intelligence reports and overwhelming public reporting that Assad carried out chemical weapons attacks against civilians, giving credence to a debunked conspiracy theory that the attack was staged by agents of the United Kingdom." Gabbard once said that the Syrian dictator was "not the enemy."
"As Director of National Intelligence, Ms. Gabbard would be entrusted with...the identification and protection of human sources working in the most dangerous settings around the world to defend our national security, and the protection of our most sensitive sources and methods of gathering intelligence."
The letter concludes by asking the senate to hold closed door hearings to make all information on Gabbard available to senators so they may fully and properly engage in their advise and consent function of approving presidential nominees to key positions in the government.
It is signed by nearly 100 former ambassadors, retired high ranking members of the military, and state department officials.
