WASHINGTON (Diya TV) — Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley strongly denounced the recent appointment of Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence under the second Trump administration, raising concerns over Gabbard’s foreign policy positions.
On her SiriusXM show, Haley, who served as former governor of South Carolina before joining the first Trump administration, denounced Gabbard on the matters of foreign affairs. She called her a “Russian, Syrian, Iranian and Chinese sympathizer,” with her ability to conduct America’s intelligence impartially in question. Haley spoke about Gabbard’s previous statements and moves, asking if the U.S. can be really able to entrust such a person in its internal security operations.
“Gabbard has supported authoritarian regimes and hasn’t retracted her controversial positions,” Haley said. “She’s defended Russia, Syria, Iran, and China. The DNI is not a position for someone with such biases. We need someone impartial, who can assess global threats objectively.”
Haley singled out the following: Gabbard’s opposition to U.S. sanctions on Iran and her opposition to calling the Iranian military a terrorist group. “She opposed ending the Iran nuclear deal and tried to limit President Trump’s war powers on Iran,” Haley added. “She even criticized the strike on Qasem Soleimani, one of the key figures behind Iran’s terror operations.
Haley also reminded that Gabbard had met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2017 during the Syrian civil war. “While Assad was massacring his people, she met with him and questioned whether he was behind chemical attacks on children. Those were Russian propaganda talking points,” Haley said.
Gabbard’s appointment sets off a wider debate on the politicization of U.S. intelligence agencies. Critics have a fear that her views may threaten to compromise the impartiality needed for the DNI role overseeing 18 intelligence agencies including the CIA and NSA.
Her appointment would be a threat to U.S. national security,” concurred Tom Nichols, a professor at the U.S. Naval War College. “A person with Gabbard’s views shouldn’t be anywhere near the crown jewels of American intelligence.
But added Matthew Burrows, who used to be a CIA officer and now is at the Stimson Center, an independent think tank. “She can shape what gets into the president’s daily brief or omit their key intelligence that doesn’t suit President Trump’s policies,” he warned.
The position of Director of National Intelligence was established in 2005 in order to reorganize the command structure of America’s intelligence agencies, hoping to establish a more uniform coordination in place of the intelligence information leading up to the September 11 attacks.
Republicans are pushing back on these claims against Gabbard.
Missouri Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt said it was “totally ridiculous” Gabbard was being portrayed as a Russian asset for challenging political views.
He told NBC “it’s insulting. It’s a slur, quite frankly. There’s no evidence that she’s an asset of another country.”
Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Lankford said he has “lots of questions” for Gabbard as the Senate analyzes her nomination. “As a member of Congress, we want to get a chance to talk about past comments that she’s made and get them into full context,” Lankford said.
Gabbard has yet to publicly address the criticism. But in remarks made to Diya TV exclusively this summer, she said “the Democrat Party of today no longer stands for free speech. They are undermining our right to express ourselves and squashing this open marketplace of ideas.”
She went on to say that her critics are “people who care more about what they think about each other and the popularity contest that exists in Washington, rather than actually caring about truth, freedom and what’s in the best interests of the safety, security and freedom of the American people.”
