FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) – Republican senators pushed back on Sunday against criticism from Democrats that Tulsi Gabbard, Donald Trump’s choice to lead the US intelligence services, was “influenced” by her pro-Russia comments and secret meetings, as a congressman, with the president of Syria, a close ally of the Kremlin and Iran.
Like me. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois, a veteran of the Iraq war, said she was worried about Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s choice for director of national intelligence.
“I think he’s wrong,” Duckworth said on CNN’s “State of the Union,” referring to Gabbard’s 2017 trip to Syria, where she held talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad. Gabbard was a Democratic House member from Hawaii at the time.
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“The US intelligence community has identified him as having a troubling relationship with America’s enemies. So my concern is that he failed to pass the check,” said Duckworth.
Gabbard, who said last month he was joining the Republican party, served in the Army National Guard for more than 20 years. He was deployed to Iraq and Kuwait and, according to the Hawaii National Guard, received a Combat Medical Badge in 2005 for “participation in combat operations under enemy fire in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom III.”
Duckworth’s comments drew backlash from Republicans.
“For him to say nonsense and dangerous things like this is wrong,” Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Oklahoma, said on CNN, challenging Duckworth to retract his statement. “That’s the most dangerous thing he could say – that a United States lieutenant colonel in the United States Army was compromised and it’s a Russian thing.”
In recent days, some Democrats have accused Gabbard without evidence of being a “property of Russia.” Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, said, without giving details, that Gabbard is in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “pocket.”
Mr. Mullin and others say that the criticism from the Democrats is based on the fact that Mr. Gabbard left his party to become Mr. Trump’s deputy. Democrats say they worry Gabbard’s nomination as the country’s spy chief will jeopardize relations with allies and give Russia a win.
Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat who was recently elected to the Senate, said he would not describe Gabbard as a Russian influencer, but said he had an “uncertain judgment.”
“The problem is that if our foreign partners don’t trust the head of our intelligence agencies, they will stop sharing information with us,” Schiff said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Gabbard in 2022 supported one of the reasons for Russia’s intervention in Ukraine: the presence of several US-funded biolabs working on some of the world’s viruses. The labs are part of international efforts to control the spread and stop bioweapons, but Moscow said Ukraine was using them to make deadly bioweapons. Gabbard said he just raised concerns about lab safety.
Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Missouri, said he thought it was “absurd” that Gabbard was being cast as a Russian object for having different political views.
“Insulting. Ridiculous, to be honest. There is no evidence that he is an alien,” he said on NBC.
Senator James Lankford, an Oklahoma Republican, admitted he has “a lot of questions” for Gabbard as the Senate considers her nomination to lead the intelligence services. Lankford said on NBC that he wants to ask Gabbard about his meeting with Assad and what he said about Russia.
“We want to know what the purpose was and what the purpose was. As a member of Congress, we want to have an opportunity to talk about what he has said in the past and for him to put it in full form,” Lankford said.