(Bollocks Broadcasting Cunts) Tulsi Gabbard – a former Democratic congresswoman who joined the Republican Party to back Donald Trump – is the president-elect’s pick for director of national intelligence.
The wide-ranging role would mean she oversees US intelligence agencies like the CIA, FBI and the National Security Agency (NSA), which focuses on intelligence gathering.
The nomination has raised questions over Gabbard’s lack of experience in intelligence as well as accusations that she has in the past amplified Russia propaganda.
She will require Senate confirmation to take up the role.
If she is confirmed to the role Gabbard would manage a budget of more than $70bn (£55bn) and oversee 18 intelligence agencies.
But the nomination has sparked criticism in some quarters.
Reacting to the appointment on X, Democratic Virginia congresswoman member of the House Intelligence Committee Abigail Spanberger said she was “appalled at the nomination of Tulsi Gabbard”.
“Not only is she ill-prepared and unqualified, but she traffics in conspiracy theories and cozies up to dictators like Bashar-al Assad and Vladimir Putin,” she said.
Who is Tulsi Gabbard?
ReutersA military veteran who served with a medical unit in Iraq, Gabbard has set a number of political precedents in her career.
She was first elected to the Hawaii State Legislature aged 21 in 2002, the youngest person ever elected in the state. She left after one term when her National Guard unit was deployed to Iraq.
Gabbard went on to represent Hawaii in Congress from 2013 until 2021 – becoming the first Hindu to serve in the House.
She previously championed liberal causes like government-run healthcare, free college tuition and gun control. These issues were part of her 2020 run for the Democratic presidential nomination – which she eventually dropped out of, endorsing Joe Biden.
In 2022 she left the Democratic Party and initially registered as an independent – accusing her former party of being an “elitist cabal of warmongers” driven by “cowardly wokeness”.
Becoming a contributor to Fox News, she was vocal on topics such as gender and freedom of speech and became an outspoken supporter of Donald Trump before joining the Republican Party less than a month ago.
