Trump Nominates Tulsi Gabbard, a Fierce Critic of the U.S. Intelligence Community, for Director of National Intelligence

By Adam Garrie, The Kennedy Beacon

President-elect Trump has nominated Tulsi Gabbard, a sharp critic of the U.S. intelligence community, to be the next Director of National Intelligence (DNI). 

Gabbard, a Lieutenant Colonel who served in Iraq, Kuwait and Somalia, believes that by spying on Americans, the intelligence agencies violate U.S. citizens’ constitutional rights. Earlier this  year, Gabbard revealed she was put on a “terror watch list” due to her criticism of Kamala Harris; that heightened her antagonism toward deep state business as usual, particularly under Democratic leadership.

“Tulsi has fought for our Country and the Freedoms of all Americans,” Trump said, upon nominating Gabbard. “As a former Candidate for the Democrat Presidential Nomination, she has broad support in both Parties - She is now a proud Republican! I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community, championing our Constitutional Rights, and securing Peace through Strength. Tulsi will make us all proud.”

Gabbard responded to the nomination, taking to X to thank Trump “for the opportunity to serve as a member of your cabinet to defend the safety, security and freedom of the American people.”

If confirmed as DNI, Gabbard, a civil libertarian, will represent a striking contrast to previous holders of the position who have overseen the “policing” of domestic discourse, and assembly and activism. It would be an historic comeback for Gabbard: from government blacklist to lead player in the intelligence community, responsible for implementing reforms.

Gabbard’s career has been far from cookie cutter: After her time in the military, she began as a Democrat, representing her home state of Hawaii as a member of Congress. She outlines her reasons for leaving the Democratic Party in a memoir, For Love of Country: Leave the Democratic Party Behind, published earlier this year by Regency, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing (Skyhorse was founded by Tony Lyons, who is also co-founder of American Values 2024, the super PAC that controls The Kennedy Beacon.). 

In her book, Gabbard expresses her horror at the Democrat Party’s use of “lawfare” against political opponents, highlighted by both the criminal charges against president Trump during his period out of office and by attempts to link Trump to the Russian state while he was president..

Her criticism of the Democrats is not limited to their treatment of Trump. More poignantly, she lambasts Democrats' propensity to deceive the public. “The Biden-Harris administration has lied to Congress and the American people for over three years, promising that the border is secure,” Gabbard writes. “They assume we are too stupid to see what’s really going on.”

Gabbard also devotes substantial portions of her book to criticizing the security state, which she characterizes as built to sacrifice Constitutional liberties. She buttresses her point with reference to  the internment of Japanese-Americans following the attack on Pearl Harbor and the swift passage of the sweeping Patriot Act in the aftermath of 9/11. For her, these are two incidents where short-sighted panic resulted in longstanding deprivation of liberty. 

As a refugee from the Democrat Party, Gabbard also highlights the party’s betrayal of free speech, a once bipartisan value. That, she writes, was an inflection point for her – part of why she broke from fellow Democrats. 

In a sign that Gabbard’s role as DNI will be remarkably different than that of her predecessors, she reminds her readers,“The greatest challenge leaders in a democratic republic have is controlling the impulse to force their will on people, removing our freedom of choice because they think they know what’s best for us and they need to protect us from making the “wrong” choice.” She continues, “No matter how much they claim to care about the people or democracy, leaders who think this way are acting like dictators.”

 Such words do not sound like those from any member of the intelligence community in living memory. This is a good thing.