BURSTControversy over President-elect Trump’s pick for intelligence chief, former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii), is raising uncomfortable questions for America’s closest allies over whether the U.S. will remain a trusted partner for sharing critical, sensitive information.
Senate Republicans, who will be key to her confirmation, have been meeting with Gabbard this week, and in private remain unsure of Gabbard’s pathway to confirmation, skeptical about her foreign policy dealings and her trustworthiness atop the nation’s intelligence apparatus.
Privately, America’s key intelligent allies – including the other “Five Eyes” countries of Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand – are balancing the perceived risks of a potential Director Gabbard and America’s role as an essential partner in huddling on critical information.
Senator-elect Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), a former CIA analyst and who served on intelligence subcommittees in the Armed Service and Homeland Security panels in the House, said allies have “open questions” about Gabbard.
“I think there’s a lot of open questions with the Five Eyes, with our English-speaking cousins, about what happens if they disagree about analysis of a problem, what if they have a concern about something they’ve collected, but are sharing with us,” she told The Hill.
“I think there’s just a lot of angst in the system just like there is in the intelligence community. I’m trying to keep an open-mind, but there’s definitely stress in the system.”
Democrats have shown little resistance to some of Trump’s other picks for national security and foreign policy positions, like Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) for secretary of State and Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) for national security advisor, but Gabbard raises particular concern.
“Look, I'm very worried that with Gabbard…that Five Eyes will – even though they will say publicly that they're sharing everything – I don't know that. I believe that right, humans are humans,” said Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee.
“And so if you've got agents at risk and you're the United Kingdom, are you going to take that into account? Of course, you are.”
Gabbard, a longtime House Democrat, has long stirred controversy, first as a Democrat in the House and as she shifted to become an outspoken champion of Trump during his latest campaign.
The overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in Syria has put an awkward focus on her relationship with the longtime Syrian dictator, including a meeting in 2017 that followed allegations of chemical weapons use against his own people. She has also been a high-profile defender of defense leaker Edward Snowden, and has been blasted more recently for echoing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s talking points on the Ukraine war.
Allies have been careful about airing any concerns about Gabbard publicly.
“It is for us to prove, to confirm to ourselves that we can share all this information, because at the end of the day it’s in our common interest to keep the peace,” Estonia’s Minister of Defense Hanno Pevkur, told The Hill when asked about any concerns over Gabbard’s appointment.
“We are respecting the choice of the U.S. president, and we are working with these people who are our counterparts.”
Canada's Minister of Defense Bill Blair, asked about Gabbard's nomination, focused on long-standing ties between institutions enduring amid changes in leadership.
“I worked with the Five Eyes environment in national security and intelligence directly for a number of decades…We’ve had different people come and go, but there’s been remarkable consistency in the way in which those institutions operate and function together. I remain confident,” he told The Hill.
Republican senators are offering reassurance that the Senate confirmation process will work, and that concerns about her past actions or positions will be addressed. But they are avoiding statements of direct opposition to Gabbard, or other Trump Cabinet nominees.
Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said the Senate is “still working” to gain confidence that Gabbard does not share Putin’s view of the world. Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Gabbard echoed Putin’s claims that Ukraine and NATO posed a security threat to Russia.
“That’s the reason why we go through this process is to get that confidence and that’s what we’re working on,” Rounds said. “But I see a path forward for her also.”
Sen. Jim Lankford (R-Ok.) said any of America's allies should meet with Gabbard before passing judgment on holding back sharing intelligence. In response to a question from The Hill, Lankford said he has confidence Gabbard would not take Putin at his word.
“She would be very focused on trying to work with all our existing allies, Five Eyes, I don’t see that as an issue quite frankly,” he said.
“I think they need to meet her first before they have that kind of judgement, so she would be very focused on trying to work with all our existing allies, Five Eyes, I don’t see that as an issue quite frankly.”
Democrats focused on intelligence, however, are more concerned.
“I am always concerned about keeping classified information, classified,” said Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
“We have a great working relationship with the Five Eyes that is valuable to our country and our allies and at the end of the day it’s based on trust.”
Another Democratic Intelligence lawmaker said they were “absolutely” worried allies would hold back on sharing information if Gabbard is involved.
“Some of it will just be quietly, where they just don't share the same level or kinds of information they shared before,” they said.
Avril Haines, the current director of National Intelligence, said she doesn’t view the Five Eyes alliance as being at “significant risk” with the change in leadership, during a panel discussion at the Council on Foreign Relations last week.
“I certainly hope that will continue,” she added.
The question was asked by former Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif), co-author of the 2004 legislation that established the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and who told The Hill she is concerned about Gabbard’s inexperience, in particular.
“Intel has its own language, and it's very complicated. It has a human dimension, but it has a gigantic technical dimension. And what does she know about all this? Because the DNI is an integrator of Intel. That's the whole point of it. It's the joint command,” Harman said.
“What worries me is that if our allies are not confident that their sources and methods will be protected, they won't share. And this can happen up and down the food chain. It might be a junior person not sharing with the next person, with the next person, or it might be the top person saying, 'No, we're not going to forward this.’”
In her rounds on Capitol Hill this week, Gabbard has a series of meetings with Republicans who serve on the Senate Intelligence Committee.
She declined to answer questions posed by The Hill about whether she views Putin as a trustworthy partner or a primary adversary, and what she would say to US allies concerned about sharing intelligence given her positions on meeting with Assad and sympathies toward the Russian leader.
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Az.), a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he plans to meet with Gabbard ahead of a confirmation hearing and expressed concern “about some of those things our allies might be concerned about.”
“But if we do confirm the president’s nominee, for any position, I would expect our allies to respect that decision.”