Tulsi Gabbard’s Intelligence Nomination Faces Scrutiny Over Syria Ties and Experience

Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence draws bipartisan criticism for her foreign policy stances and lack of intelligence background.

Nearly 100 former U.S. diplomats and intelligence officials have called for closed-door Senate hearings to examine Tulsi Gabbard’s qualifications and potential risks to intelligence operations.
Concerns center on Gabbard’s 2017 meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and her anti-interventionist foreign policy, which some critics claim align with Russian and Syrian interests.
John Bolton, former national security adviser, has suggested that files from Assad’s regime could reveal compromising information about Gabbard and other Americans if Syrian rebels succeed in capturing Damascus.
Gabbard and her spokesperson have dismissed the allegations as partisan attacks, defending her positions as necessary for peace and criticizing decades of flawed U.S. intelligence decisions.
The Senate confirmation process is likely to be contentious, with calls to prioritize safeguarding intelligence sources and methods during Gabbard’s evaluation.