Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley said Thursday that he is “worried” that not enough senators in his party will support Director of National Intelligence (DNI) nominee Tulsi Gabbard’s confirmation.
Hawley said some of his Republican colleagues have not expressed their support for Gabbard, who has criticized the U.S. government for spending over $200 billion dollars on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and has accused the “power elite” of risking Americans’ lives on Ukraine’s behalf. Democrats, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, have accused Gabbard of being a Russian asset and a threat to national security.
“I have to tell you, I’m worried by what I hear from some of my Republican colleagues,” Hawley said. “I’m worried that her nomination may be in jeopardy, and I’m just worried what that will mean. It will mean that the reforms that we need in the intelligence space, let’s not just pretend everything is fine and dandy and hunky dory in the intelligence community. It’s not. Besides the fact that they have missed major, major issues and besides the fact that they led us on COVID for example for so long. We need reform to stop things like FISA Section 702, stop spying on Americans, I hope Tulsi gets confirmed because we need that kind of reform.”
WATCH:
During her Thursday confirmation hearing, Gabbard’s views on Snowden and FISA Section 702 were the main subjects of questioning by senators on both sides of the aisle.
Gabbard has faced scrutiny from some Republicans for introducing a resolution in 2020 calling for all charges to be dropped against former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden, who was wanted on espionage charges after he exposed the mass surveillance of Americans’ phones by the NSA in 2013. Gabbard agreed during her confirmation hearing that Snowden “broke the law,” but she refused to view him as a traitor.
The DNI nominee expressed support for FISA 702, which has been criticized for allowing the warrantless surveillance of Americans, but said that there is a need for civil liberties protections.
A handful of Republican senators have remained undecided on their support for Gabbard despite them having previously voted in favor of former President Joe Biden’s nominee, Avril Haines, for the same role. These senators include Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, John Curtis of Utah, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine.
The DNI nominee has also been a subject of target by the intelligence community as she has been a major skeptic of the intelligence community’s surveillance efforts, specifically the National Security Agency’s (NSA) “mass surveillance program.” Whistleblowers disclosed that the TSA and Federal Air Marshals (FAM) placed Gabbard on a terror watchlist known as “Quiet Skies” and made her subject to surveillance while she traveled, which she said searches at the airport would last 45 minutes.
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