Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) said Sunday on CNN's “State of the Union” that former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Haiti), whom President-elect Donald Trump has nominated to lead the intelligence community, “is not willing to compromise.” “
Host Dana Bash said, “Let's move on to former Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, whom the president-elect has selected to be director of national intelligence. She has criticized U.S. intelligence. She has criticized Russian propaganda. Your fellow Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz called her “probably a Russian asset.” Now, you and Tulsi Gabbard are both veterans. You served in the House of Commons with her, what do you think of her? ”
Duckworth said: “Well, I think she's compromising. I think she's going to go to Syria and basically support that brutal dictator there. So the Russian-controlled media is calling her a Russian asset. So I think we have really deep concerns about whether she's a compromised person.”
She added: “U.S. intelligence has identified her as having troubling ties to an enemy of the United States. So what concerns me is that she failed a background check.”
Bash said: “You know, you're a Democrat. You're currently in the minority in the U.S. Senate. If she finds out that the votes among Republicans are likely to be confirmed, then you can elect her for the job.” It seems like I'm worried about letting it go.”
Mr Duckworth said: She has no background in intelligence. When she was in Iraq, she was a medical records clerk A-4 below the rank of sergeant. Her second deployment was actually to a Kuwaiti naval base, where she spent only three months training the Kuwaiti military. I don't know about any intelligence work she did. So she's highly unqualified from an intelligence perspective. Furthermore, although she has been potentially compromised, could be compromised, and is currently being compromised, there are questions as to whether she is currently a Russian asset. ”
He added, “I think she's someone who fully supports and supports President Putin, but I'm concerned that she doesn't have America's best interests at heart.”
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