Tulsi Gabbard vows to defend 'God-given freedoms' as DNI, will fight 'weaponized intelligence'

As the confirmation hearing for Trump’s director of national intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard began on Thursday morning, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton warned Democrats on the committee against questioning Gabbard’s "patriotism and integrity."

"I'm dismayed by the attacks on Ms. Gabbard's patriotism and her loyalty to our country. For instance, Hillary Clinton has smeared Ms. Gabbard, calling her an asset of a foreign nation. Let me remind everyone that Ms. Gabbard has served in our army for more than two decades. She has multiple combat tours, and she still wears the uniform to this day," Cotton said.

"She has undergone five FBI background checks. I spent more than two hours last week reviewing the latest, putting eyes on more than 300 pages. It's clean as a whistle. It's fine that we have differences of opinions on policies and programs. I suspect some of my Republican colleagues might disagree with some of Ms. Gabbard's votes in the House of Representatives, just as I suspect that some of my Democratic colleagues, might criticize Ms. Gabbard’s statements and actions since she saw the light and left the Democratic Party, but I sincerely hope that no one today will impugn Ms. Gabbard's patriotism and integrity."

In her opening statements, Gabbard said that "trust in the intelligence committee, unfortunately, is at an all-time low. Chuck Schumer admitted a few years ago, 'you take on the intelligence community, they have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you.' For too long, faulty, inadequate, or weaponized intelligence have led to costly failures and the undermining of our national security and God-given freedoms enshrined in the Constitution." She said that the "most obvious example" of this is the "invasion of Iraq based upon a total fabrication or complete failure of intelligence," which led to "the deaths of tens of thousands of American soldiers, millions of people in the Middle East, mass migration, destabilization, and undermining of the security and stability of our European allies, the rise of ISIS, strengthening of al Qaeda and other Islamist jihadist groups, and strengthening Iran."

She later added, "The fact is, what truly unsettles my political opponents is I refuse to be their puppet. I have no love for Assad or Gaddafi or any dictator. I just hate al Qaeda. I hate that we have leaders who cozy up to Islamist extremists, minimizing them to so-called rebels, as Jake Sullivan said to Hillary Clinton, 'al Qaeda is on our side in Syria.' Well, Syria is now controlled by an al Qaeda offshoot, HTS, led by an Islamist jihadist who danced in the streets on 9/11, who was responsible for the killing of many American service members."

She concluded in her statements, "If confirmed as Director of National Intelligence, I will continue to live by the oath that I have sworn at least eight times in my life, both in uniform and as a member of Congress. I will support and defend our God-given freedoms enshrined in the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same.