'Sympathy for dictators': Dozens of intelligence veterans warn Senate to block Gabbard

Dozens of former national security officials wrote to Senate leaders John Thune (R-SD) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to warn them against confirming former Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard to serve as President-elect Donald Trump's Director of National Intelligence, one of the nation's top positions overseeing spy agencies.

The letter was obtained and posted to X by Punchbowl News' Andrew Desiderio.

Gabbard was previously a socially conservative Democrat, and at one point even served as vice chair of the Democratic National Committee and endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) for president. But she left the party and became one of Trump's key surrogates in the 2024 election.

Intelligence officials in the letter, which include a number of deputy cabinet secretaries, generals, admirals, former ambassadors, and State Department advisers who served under both Republican and Democratic administrations, warned that Gabbard is unqualified for the role — particularly in light of her repeated promulgation of pro-Russia conspiracy theories that accuse American intelligence and groups funded by the U.S. of nefarious intent, something even her former aides have called out as troubling.

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"Senators must carefully scrutinize her qualifications as an intelligence professional and her record, including her uncoordinated trip to Syria in 2017 to meet with President Bashar al-Assad," said the letter. "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." Among those actions, they noted, were her denial that Assad was behind chemical weapons attacks against Syrian civilians, and her suggestion the Russian invasion of Ukraine was justified by the presence of U.S. biological weapon labs in that country.

"Her sympathy for dictators like Vladimir Putin raises questions about her judgment and fitness," the letter continued. Furthermore, "Ms. Gabbard, if confirmed, would be the least experienced Director of National Intelligence since the position was created," with no management experience, no experience on a congressional intelligence committee, and no experience working for an intelligence agency.

"The Senate must carefully evaluate whether Ms. Gabbard is equipped to effectively oversee an organizational structure as unique and large as the National Intelligence Program and also the effect of her holding this position on the willingness of our closest allies to share intelligence with the U.S.," said the letter.

Read the letter below or at the link here.