 "Trump's cabinet picks face intense scrutiny during Senate confirmation hearings")
US President Donald Trump’s nominees to lead the US intelligence community and the FBI faced intense scrutiny on Thursday during contentious Senate confirmation hearings, as critics highlighted their lack of experience and controversial past decisions.
Tulsi Gabbard, nominated for director of national intelligence, appeared before the Senate Intelligence Committee for what is being called the most significant confirmation hearing so far.
Meanwhile, Kash Patel faced questions regarding his aspirations to lead the FBI.
Gabbard, a former congresswoman from Hawaii who ran for president as a Democrat in 2020, is viewed as Trump’s most vulnerable cabinet nominee. Her interrogation represented a crucial test of his influence over Senate Republicans since taking office.
Concerns have been raised about her past support for NSA leaker Edward Snowden, which many in Congress believe jeopardised national security.
She also faced scrutiny regarding her lack of national security experience, her 2017 meeting with the now-ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, and her promotion of Russian propaganda, particularly regarding false conspiracy theories about the Ukraine conflict.
A single Republican “no” vote could derail Gabbard’s nomination from advancing to the Senate floor with a favorable recommendation, and party leadership has signaled that she wouldn’t receive a vote without committee backing.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsTom Cotton, the committee’s Republican chairman, expressed his disappointment over the questioning of Gabbard’s patriotism and loyalty, highlighting her two-decade military service and five FBI background checks, which he claimed demonstrated her integrity.
In contrast, Mark Warner, the leading Democrat, cautioned that foreign allies might hesitate to share their secrets with Washington if Gabbard were appointed to oversee the network of 18 intelligence agencies.
‘Weaponisation’
In his opening statement he said the US intelligence mission “is all predicated on trust – trust that our allies will protect each other’s secrets.”
“It appears to me you have repeatedly excused our adversaries’ worst actions and instead often blame them on the United States and those very allies,” he added.
But Gabbard hit back, arguing that her critics were upset that “I refuse to be their puppet” and saying that Trump won a clear mandate to end the “weaponization and politicization” of the intelligence community.
She acknowledged that Snowden had broken the law by leaking highly classified information in 2013 but repeatedly refused under questioning from both sides to call him a traitor.
“I’ll begin by leading by example, checking my own personal views at the door and committing to delivering intelligence that is collected, analyzed and reported without bias, prejudice or political influence,” she told the panel.
On a day of drama on Capitol Hill, there were fiery exchanges between Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee and FBI director-designate Kash Patel, although he appears to be on a surer footing than Gabbard.
Democrats argued that he is an unrepentant conspiracy theorist and brought up a list of 60 supposed “deep state” actors - all critics of Trump - he included in a 2022 book, whom he said should be investigated or “otherwise reviled.”
Senator Dick Durbin, the panel’s top Democrat, said Patel had “neither the experience, the temperament nor the judgment to lead” the FBI.
Patel has denied that he has an “enemies list,” and told the committee he was merely interested in bringing lawbreakers to book.
In one unexpected exchange he distanced himself from at least some of Trump’s pardons of hundreds of criminals convicted of violence over the 2021 US Capitol insurrection.
“I do not agree with the commutation of any sentence of any individual who committed violence against law enforcement,” he said.
At the same time Robert F Kennedy Jr was appearing for a second hearing on Capitol Hill, a day after coming under attack from Democrats over his promotion of vaccine misinformation, and his sudden embrace of anti-abortion policies.
Thursday’s questioning turned to past allegations of sexual assault from a babysitter who received an apology from Kennedy after claiming he groped her in 1999.
Kennedy denied sexual misconduct, saying the accusation had been “debunked,” and added that he texted the alleged victim an apology for “something else.”
Trump has chosen Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
With inputs from agencies
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