Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., questioned director of national intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard’s previous experience to the point where the senator suggested having her lead the nation’s security apparatus might very well violate federal law.
As opening statements began on Thursday in the Senate confirmation hearings for the DNI position, Warner said that the law creating the DNI position requires the nominee to have “extensive national security expertise.”
Addressing Gabbard, he said, “I continue to have significant concerns about your judgment and your qualifications to meet the standard set by the law.”
Warner opened his statement by thanking Gabbard for her decades of service in the military and as a congresswoman who represented Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District. President Donald Trump nominated Gabbard in November to replace Avril Haines who was former President Joe Biden’s first member to be confirmed in his Cabinet.
Warner noted that the position was created following “one of our worst national security failures, 9-11” adding, “For that reason, when Congress established this position — [it was] mandated in law that any individual nominated for this position must have, and I quote, extensive national security expertise.”
Warner then emphasized that intelligence sharing is critical to the nation’s security yet questioned if Gabbard’s past remarks would impede that critical component. “There’s no legal requirement that our allies share intelligence with us, it’s all predicated on trust. Trust that our allies will protect each other’s secrets. Yet it appears to me you have repeatedly excused our adversaries’ worst actions and instead often blame them on the United States and those very allies. For example, you blamed NATO for Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. You rejected the conclusion that Assad used chemical weapons in Syria.” Warner said Gabbard’s remarks raised “serious questions” about her judgment and whether U.S. allies would share “their most sensitive intelligence with us.”
Warner also noted Gabbard’s outspoken praise of Edward Snowden, the NSA leaker who Warner said, “compromised our most important sources and methods.” Gabbard has described Snowden as a “brave whistleblower” and put forward legislation asking for his pardon. When pressed on the issue, Warner quoted Gabbard as saying in a prehearing that “the DNI has no role in determining whether or not Edward Snowden is a lawful whistleblower.”
“I would have serious concerns about someone who cannot distinguish between complaints that are made lawfully and those that are not,” Warner said.
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