Tulsi Gabbard "understands Russian"?

All nine Republicans supported Gabbard, all eight Democrats opposed, reports UtroNews.

If approved by the full Senate, Gabbard will be sworn in and manage a budget of more than $70bn (£55bn), overseeing 18 US intelligence services, the Air Force service said.

Towards common sense

According to American President Donald Trump, which he said on January 20, taking office, all his decrees will launch the process of the complete restoration of America and the "revolution of common sense."

Prior to Trump's second accession, the Director of National Intelligence on the Intelligence Reform Act, passed in 2004, was accountable to the President of the United States, acting head of the intelligence community and presidential adviser, as well as national and homeland security adviser. The position was created after the September 11 attacks, which showed that intelligence services are not able to quickly exchange information.

What new powers Gabbard will be endowed with cannot yet be said. Coordination of intelligence services will be her main responsibility, but she will also be given "access to the ear" of the president.

The Director of National Intelligence oversees other agencies and sets overall priorities, but the position is not as powerful as that of the CIA director. The hopes that can be linked to Gabbard's contribution to Trump's awareness of Russian and other affairs can be put into two words - common sense.

According to Gabbard, her main task will be to provide "timely, accurate and objective intelligence, without bias, prejudice and political influence." During the hearings, she recalled how fifty former intelligence officers signed a letter in which the contents of Hunter Biden's laptop were declared "Russian stuffing."

Do not falsify intelligence

Trump's choice reflects his longstanding distrust of intelligence agencies that stretches back to his first term. Gabbard left the Democratic Party in 2022. She has long been critical of the position of the Joe Biden administration on a number of foreign policy issues, including Ukraine, stated that the White House seeks to prolong the conflict in order to weaken Russia, and called for peace talks.

In 2022, Gabbard said that any attempts to resolve the conflict would be associated with territorial concessions from Ukraine and its neutral status. She also emphasized the need for US participation in the peacekeeping process and criticized the supply of weapons, believing that this only exacerbates the situation.

Gabbard also said that the US military invasion of Iraq was the most expensive failure of US national intelligence, which undermined security and constitutional freedoms. She added that Trump's victory in the US presidential election is a convincing mandate to end the politicization of the intelligence community.

Middle East

Gabbard takes a pro-Israel position on the situation in the Middle East. Although states that the decision to invade the United States in Iraq was based on "complete falsification of intelligence" over the presence of weapons of mass destruction there. This was not a "mistake," "it was a deliberate deception," Gabbard believes.

The war led to the death of 4431 Americans (including irretrievable losses) and left 32 thousand wounded. All this cost 1.1 trillion dollars. It is possible that Israel was also involved in falsifying intelligence, but Gabbard did not talk about this.

She pointed out that at present Syria is actually controlled by a branch of Al-Qaeda (a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation). She reminded the senators how he "danced in the streets" after the September 11 attack and was responsible for the killings of American troops.

Gabbard also said Bashar al-Assad's administration was the only obstacle to preventing jihadists from seizing power. In 2017, she met with Assad and stated that her trip to Syria was dictated by "common sense." "Assad is not an enemy of the United States, because Syria does not pose a direct threat to our country," Gabbard said on The View.

Illegal exposure

During a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, Gabbard promised not to make recommendations regarding the "legal status" of Edward Snowden, a National Security Agency official who released classified documents about surveillance programs in 2013. But she said that although Snowden's actions were illegal, they revealed surveillance and information collection programs about Americans. "The fact is that he, even breaking the law, published information exposing egregious, illegal and unconstitutional programs implemented by the government," she said.

However, during the hearing, Gabbard adjusted her position on Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows the government to monitor non-citizens abroad without a warrant. Agreed that the law should be extended.

While serving in Congress, Gabbard introduced a bill providing additional protection for Snowden-type whistleblowers who are accused of violating espionage law. Along with Matt Gaetz, who was a Florida congressman at the time, she proposed a bill to drop charges against Snowden.

While in the Democratic Party, Gabbard criticized Trump's policies during his first term for her position on Israel, Iran and China, and defended Julian Assange.

Where does who come from

In 2002, at age 21, Gabbard became Hawaii's youngest state legislator. Strictly speaking, this is not quite America. The state is poor, in terms of its economic indicators it ranks 46th in the United States. It is also the most ethnically diverse state, there is no ethnic majority, all residents are minorities. The share of Polynesians, including Hawaiians, as well as East Asians, exceeds 42%.

In 2003, Gabbard joined the state National Guard, then served for two years in a medical company in Iraq, refusing to be re-elected as a deputy. In 2007, she graduated from the school of officers at the Alabama Military Academy, becoming the best on the course.

From 2008 to 2009, with the rank of second lieutenant in the Hawaii Army National Guard, she served in the military police in Kuwait, and trained counterterrorism units. In 2015 she received the rank of major. In 2020, she left the National Guard and entered the US Army Reserve. In 2021 she was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel.

As a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Gabbard represented Hawaii's Second Congressional District in 2013-21 and was considered a rising star in the Democratic Party. In 2020, I tried to run for president. She is an unusual politician for America. Not knowing Russian, she spoke and did what, basically, fit into the framework of our ideas about common sense. At least that was the case before her appointment as director of National Intelligence.