The New York Times is set to publish an article that criticizes Tulsi Gabbard, who is President Trump's nominee for Director of National Intelligence. The piece is based on anonymous sources suggesting she met with Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, during a trip to the Middle East in 2017. This article is expected to be released just before her Senate confirmation hearing.
Bernard Hudson, a former CIA counterterrorism director, labeled the accusations as bizarre and unbelievable. Dave Reaboi, a national security expert, commented that this attack represents the kind of underhanded tactics for which the Deep State has become known and criticized the media's focus on Gabbard instead of on Hezbollah.
The allegation about Gabbard's supposed meeting with a terrorist has never been reported before, even during her presidential campaign in 2020. The Times' report is following reports of anonymous Republican senators raising concerns about her previous meeting with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, which had been permitted by a House ethics panel. In contrast, former Secretary of State John Kerry was confirmed despite having met Assad years earlier.
Additionally, some GOP senators are worried about Gabbard's past criticisms of surveillance programs that had targeted Trump's first presidential campaign. While in Congress, she proposed reforms to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act alongside Republican Rep. Thomas Massie.
Gabbard, a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve and a critic of U. S. military engagement abroad, has faced similar attacks before. Recently, she became a focus of a surveillance program shortly after she publicly criticized the Biden Administration. Many former intelligence officials have supported her nomination, arguing she has the integrity needed to improve the intelligence community.
Republican Senators Susan Collins and Todd Young are seen as key votes on the Senate Intelligence Committee, where Gabbard cannot afford to lose support.
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