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Gabbard Faces Questions On Capitol Hill12/10 06:11
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President-elect Donald Trump's pick for intelligence
chief, Tulsi Gabbard, faced fresh scrutiny Monday on Capitol Hill about her
proximity to Russian-ally Syria amid the sudden collapse of that country's
hardline Assad rule.
Gabbard ignored shouted questions about her 2017 visit to war-torn Syria as
she ducked into one of several private meetings with senators who are being
asked to confirm Trump's unusual nominees.
But the Democrat-turned-Republican Army National Reserve lieutenant colonel
delivered a statement in which she reiterated her support for Trump's America
First approach to national security and a more limited U.S. military footprint
overseas.
"I want to address the issue that's in the headlines right now: I stand in
full support and wholeheartedly agree with the statements that President Trump
has made over these last few days with regards to the developments in Syria,"
Gabbard said exiting a Senate meeting.
The incoming president's Cabinet and top administrative choices are dividing
his Republican allies and drawing concern, if not full opposition, from
Democrats and others. Not just Gabbard, but other Trump nominees including
Pentagon pick Pete Hegseth, were back at the Capitol ahead of what is expected
to be volatile confirmation hearings next year.
The incoming president is working to put his team in place for an ambitious
agenda of mass immigrant deportations, firing federal workers and rollbacks of
U.S. support for Ukraine and NATO allies.
"We're going to sit down and visit, that's what this is all about," said
Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., as he welcomed Gabbard into his office.
The president-elect announced other appointments Monday, including his
lawyer Harmeet Dhillon for assistant attorney general for civil rights at the
Justice Department and Mark Paoletta as the returning general counsel of the
Office of Management and Budget.
Meanwhile, Defense Secretary pick Hegseth appeared to be picking up support
from once-skeptical senators, the former Army National Guard major denying
sexual misconduct allegations and pledging not to drink alcohol if he is
confirmed.
The president-elect's choice to lead the FBI, Kash Patel, who has written
extensively about locking up Trump's foes and proposed dismantling the Federal
Bureau of Investigation, launched his first visits with senators Monday.
"I expect our Republican Senate is going to confirm all of President Trump's
nominees," said Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., on social media.
Despite widespread concern about the nominees' qualifications and demeanors
for the jobs that are among the highest positions in the U.S. government,
Trump's team is portraying the criticism against them as nothing more than
political smears and innuendo.
Showing that concern, nearly 100 former senior U.S. diplomats and
intelligence and national security officials have urged Senate leaders to
schedule closed-door hearings to allow for a full review of the government's
files on Gabbard.
Trump's allies have described the criticisms of Hegseth in particular as
similar to those lodged against Brett Kavanaugh, the former president's Supreme
Court nominee who denied a sexual assault allegation and went on to be
confirmed during Trump's first term in office.
Said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., about Hegseth: "Anonymous accusations are
trying to destroy reputations again. We saw this with Kavanaugh. I won't stand
for it."
One widely watched Republican, Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, herself a former
Army National Guard lieutenant colonel and sexual assault survivor who had been
criticized by Trump allies for her cool reception to Hegseth, appeared more
open to him after their follow-up meeting Monday.
"I appreciate Pete Hegseth's responsiveness and respect for the process,"
Ernst said in a statement.
Ernst said that following "encouraging conversations," he had committed to
selecting a senior official who will "prioritize and strengthen my work to
prevent sexual assault within the ranks. As I support Pete through this
process, I look forward to a fair hearing based on truth, not anonymous
sources."
Hegseth, in an interview late Monday with Sean Hannity of Fox News, said he
had a "great meeting" with Ernst and "the fact that she's willing to support me
through this process means a lot."
Hegseth said he had meetings scheduled this week with two other female
Republican senators -- Lisa Murkowski of Alaska on Tuesday and Susan Collins of
Maine on Wednesday.
Ernst, meanwhile, also had praise for Patel -- "He shares my passion for
shaking up federal agencies" -- and for Gabbard.
Once a rising Democratic star, Gabbard, who represented Hawaii in Congress,
arrived a decade ago in Washington, her surfboard in tow, a new generation of
potential leaders. She ran unsuccessfully for president in 2020.
But Gabbard abruptly left the party and briefly became an independent before
joining with Trump's 2024 campaign as one of his enthusiasts, in large part
over his disdain for U.S. involvement overseas and opposition to helping
Ukraine battle Russia.
Her visit to Syria to meet with then-President Bashar Assad around the time
of Trump's first inauguration during the country's bloody civil war stunned her
former colleagues and the Washington national security establishment. The U.S.
had severed diplomatic relations with Syria. Her visit was seen by some as
legitimizing a brutal leader who was accused of war crimes.
Gabbard has defended the trip, saying it's important to open dialogue, but
critics hear in her commentary echoes of Russia-fueled talking points. Assad
fled to Moscow over the weekend after Islamist rebels overtook Syria in a
surprise attack, ending his family's five decades of rule.
She said her own views have been shaped by "my multiple deployments and
seeing firsthand the cost of war and the threat of Islamist terrorism."
Gabbard said, "It's one of the many reasons why I appreciate President
Trump's leadership and his election, where he is fully committed, as he has
said over and over, to bring about an end to wars."
Last week, the nearly 100 former officials, who served in both Democratic
and Republican administrations, said in the letter to Senate leaders they were
"alarmed" by the choice of Gabbard to oversee all 18 U.S. intelligence agencies.
They said her past actions "call into question her ability to deliver
unbiased intelligence briefings to the President, Congress, and to the entire
national security apparatus."
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence was created after the
Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to coordinate the nation's intelligence agencies and
act as the president's main intelligence adviser.
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