Tulsi Gabbard is the next target for the GOP establishment and the left after Matt Gaetz was ousted from the picture. Tulsi Gabbard was selected by Donald Trump to be his Director for National Intelligence. While it is fair to question her qualifications, her experience, or her background, one can’t deny that the opposition has taken a direction that is unconstitutional, and unprincipled.
The Biden-Harris Administration placed Gabbard for a while on the “Quiet Skies Watch List”. Quiet Skies was not a terrorist watch list, but it did place Americans under increased scrutiny and screening based on Gabbard’s “overseas travels and foreign connections.”
Gabbard was a US Army Reserve officer at the time. We have no idea what “briefly”, and this raises the question as to how the federal government knew about her “overseas connections and travel” This attack reminds us of how the Obama Administration put Carter Page under FISA surveillance, then leaked that fact, and used that illegal spying to prove that Page was an agent for a foreign power. This is a “heckler veto” that has political implications. This gives bureaucrats the power to remove potential threats from office by putting them on a “watch list,” controlled by bureaucrats, and then using this action as a disqualification.
Second, Gabbard’s “compromised” is the second attack.
Here’s Illinois Democrat Tammy Duckworth spreading the slander about Gabbard being a foreign agent.
DUCKWORTH: I believe she is compromised. By going to Syria, and supporting this brutal dictator — I mean Russian-controlled media has called her an asset. I think we are very concerned about whether she is a compromised individual.
The U.S. Intelligence Committee, I’m so sorry, the U.S. Intelligence Community has identified her for having troublesome relationships with America’s enemies. My concern is that she wouldn’t pass any background checks.
BASH: You are a Democrat. Now you are a minority in the United States Senate. You might be worried if she could find enough votes to confirm her, most likely among Republicans.
DUCKWORTH: Definitely. She is not an intelligence professional.
She was working in Iraq as a medical records clerk, E4, which is below the rank sergeant. She spent only three months in Kuwait at the Kuwaiti Naval Base, training Kuwaiti soldiers. She has not done any intelligence work.
She is, therefore, from the perspective of the intelligence community very unqualified. She is also potentially compromised, and there is some question about whether she is a Russian agent.
BASH: Do You Believe That She Could Be A Russian Asset?
DUCKWORTH: I believe that she fully supports and backs Putin. And I am worried that she won’t have America’s interests in mind.
The same accusation was made by Anderson Cooper 360. The critical part begins at 0:38.
Nikki Haley could not resist the urge to get a few licks in. The relevant segment is at 1:31.
Gabbard may have embraced Howard Zinn’s belief that America’s Foreign Policy is the root of all evil, but that does not make her compromised. It makes her, in my opinion, a bad choice for any position in national security, but that’s a different story.
Gabbard was subjected to a religious test that is unabashedly inconstitutional. It is being said that she is a Hindu.
The same attacks have been made against all orthodox believers. Remember that Catholic nominees who are on the right side of adulterous and blasphemous Joe Biden are routinely questioned about their religion.
No matter how you feel about religion, the Constitutional ban on religious testing for public offices applies.
Tulsi Gabriel’s confirmation hearing must focus on her intelligence and character, as well as whether she can effectively manage the US Intelligence Community. The use of insults about her religion or being compromised is not allowed. The fact that she was placed on a watch list by the Biden-Harris Administration is more an indictment of the process than it is a reflection of her. She does have to answer hard questions regarding her vocal support of Iran, her meeting with Syria’s Assad, and other statements. But none of this justifies her being called compromised.
