Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) fired back at what he described as “dangerous” and false accusations by a senate colleague about President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Director of National Intelligence being a Russian asset.
In an interview on CNN Sunday, Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) harked back to DNI-designate Tulsi Gabbard’s 2017 meeting with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad and coziness with Russia, implying she might be “compromised.”
“I think by going to Syria and basically backing this brutal dictator there — I mean, Russian-controlled media called her a Russian asset. So I do think that we have a real deep concern whether or not she’s a compromised person,” Duckworth told CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday earlier in the program.
“Frankly … the U.S. intelligence community has identified her as having troubling relationships with America’s foes. And so my worry is that she couldn’t pass a background check.”
Duckworth, 56, who sits on both the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Foreign Relations, added that “I worry that she will not have America’s best interests at heart.”
Mullin, 47, who had stressed he has “respect” for Duckworth, an Iraq war veteran who lost both her legs in battle, leaped to Gabbard’s defense and insisted there was no “file on her.”
“For her to say ridiculous and outright dangerous words like that is wrong. You have got to keep in mind that Tulsi Gabbard is still a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army,” the Oklahoma senator said on the program.
“She is a true patriot of the United States, and there’s no reason why the Democrats are going after her, other than the fact they’re upset that she left their woke party,” he went on.
Trump, 78, had announced Gabbard, 43, as his pick to serve as DNI, a position created in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to ensure coordination between the US’ 18 intelligence agencies.
Gabbard was registered as a Democrat until 2022 and changed her party affiliation to Republican earlier this year. She’s accused Democrats of falling prey to war hawks.
She vied unsuccessfully in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary and has made a name for herself over her staunch opposition to interventionist foreign policy.
In 2017, while serving as a congresswoman from Hawaii, Gabbard publicly conveyed skepticism to allegations from the US that Assad deployed chemical weapons in Khan Shaykhun.
Earlier that year, she revealed that she met with the ruthless Syrian dictator as part of a “fact-finding” mission.
Gabbard has also been critical of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, accusing him of authoritarianism for his wartime policies as Kyiv struggles to fend off Russian invaders.
Notably, his neighbor, Russian leader Vladimir Putin, has been accused of ordering assassination attempts against numerous dissidents.
The former Hawaii rep’s nomination has even made some Republicans uneasy, especially luminaries on foreign policy and more moderate members of the Senate GOP conference.
“We will have lots of questions. She met with Bashar Assad. We will want to know what the purpose was and what the direction for that was as a member of Congress,” Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) told “State of the Union” on Sunday.
“We will want to get a chance to talk about past comments that she’s made and get them into full context.”
Duckworth also underscored the lack of intelligence experience on Gabbard’s resume.
“When she was in Iraq, she was a medical records clerk E4, below the rank of sergeant,” she said. “I don’t know of any intelligence work that she has done.”
Trump has been keen on filling up his next administration with disrupters who will shake up the status quo.
To get confirmed, Gabbard will need approval from the Senate, unless Trump attempts to bypass the upper chamber and pursue a recess appointment.
