{"id":2396985,"date":"2025-01-30T11:33:02","date_gmt":"2025-01-30T16:33:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tulsi-gabbard-declares-she-is-nobodys-puppet\/"},"modified":"2025-01-30T11:33:32","modified_gmt":"2025-01-30T16:33:32","slug":"tulsi-gabbard-declares-she-is-nobodys-puppet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tulsi-gabbard-declares-she-is-nobodys-puppet\/","title":{"rendered":"Tulsi Gabbard declares she is nobody&#8217;s &#8216;puppet&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftulsi-gabbard-declares-she-is-nobodys-puppet%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2396985&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Tulsi \u200bGabbard, nominated by President Donald\u2062 Trump to become the director of national intelligence, defended herself during her Senate Intelligence Committee confirmation hearing, stating that she is &#8220;nobody&#8217;s puppet&#8221; amidst accusations \u2062regarding her alleged connections to various political figures. She highlighted \u2063the absurdity of \u2062being labeled as the puppet of multiple leaders concurrently. Gabbard \u2064criticized the intelligence community&#8217;s actions, \u2062claiming that they were politicized to undermine Trump&#8217;s \u2064presidency and falsely paint him as a \u200dRussian agent.\u2063 She also \u2062mentioned her treatment as a \u200dcritic of Vice \u2063President Kamala Harris and expressed concerns over the misuse of the\u2063 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance\u2063 Act to\u200c spy on the Trump \u2063campaign. <\/p>\n<p>During the hearing, Senator Tom Cotton acknowledged the heightened\u200d interest in Gabbard&#8217;s nomination \u2062and recognized her &#8220;unconventional views,&#8221; while Senator Mark warner raised concerns over her judgment\u2062 relating to her criticisms\u2063 of NATO \u2063and support of Edward Snowden,\u200c whom Warner accused of jeopardizing national security.Gabbard&#8217;s confirmation process has garnered significant attention, reflecting \u200bboth her controversial positions\u200c and\u200c the contentious nature \u200cof her potential\u200b role in the intelligence community.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Tulsi Gabbard declares she is nobody&rsquo;s &lsquo;puppet,&rsquo; vows to end &lsquo;weaponization&rsquo; of intelligence community<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1957709\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/tulsi-gabbard\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Tulsi Gabbard<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">President Donald Trump<\/a>&rsquo;s pick to become intelligence chief, fought back against what she called &ldquo;smears,&rdquo; declaring she is nobody&rsquo;s &ldquo;puppet&rdquo; at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>She told senators her opponents accuse her &ldquo;of being Trump&rsquo;s puppet, Putin&rsquo;s puppet, Assad&rsquo;s puppet, a guru&rsquo;s puppet, Modi&rsquo;s puppet, not recognizing the absurdity of simultaneously being the puppet of five different puppet masters.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The former Hawaii congresswoman referenced the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant illegally used to spy on the Trump campaign and the 51 intelligence community officials who vowed that the Hunter Biden laptop scandal had the hallmarks of Russian intelligence, and she claimed she was put on a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">secret domestic terrorist watch list<\/a> after criticizing former Vice President Kamala Harris.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The American people elected Donald Trump as their president, not once, but twice, and yet, the FBI and intelligence agencies were politicized by his opponents to undermine his presidency and falsely portray him as a puppet of Putin,&rdquo; she added.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Tulsi Gabbard during a Senate Intelligence Committee confirmation hearing in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. (Daniel Heuer\/Bloomberg via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Sen. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/tom-cotton\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Tom Cotton<\/a> (R-AR), the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, began the hearing by mentioning the immense media attention that Gabbard&rsquo;s nomination to be the director of national intelligence has captured.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s fair to say that Ms. Gabbard&rsquo;s nomination has generated a bit more interest and attention than do most nominees before this committee, but I want to stress that Ms. Gabbard has been and will be treated with the exact same respect, consideration, and professionalism that we extended through every nominee, no more, no less, no better, no worse,&rdquo; Cotton said in his opening statement.<\/p>\n<p>The Arkansas senator acknowledged Gabbard has some &ldquo;unconventional views,&rdquo; mentioning her critiques of former President Barack Obama&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senate-overwhelmingly-votes-to-keep-u-s-embassy-in-jerusalem\/\" title=\"Senate Overwhelmingly Votes to Keep U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem\">foreign policy decisions<\/a> but pointing out similarities to his own views.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;No doubt she has some unconventional views, like her criticism of Barack Obama&rsquo;s regime change interventions in Egypt and Libya. But guess what? I opposed the disastrous interventions in Egypt and Libya as well,&rdquo; Cotton said during his opening statement.<\/p>\n<p>The highest-ranking Democrat on the committee, Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), also raised Gabbard&rsquo;s &ldquo;unconventional&rdquo; viewpoints and said he had &ldquo;significant concerns about [her] judgment.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;For example, you blamed NATO for Russia&rsquo;s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. You rejected the conclusion that Assad used chemical weapons in Syria despite it being the unanimous assessment of the Trump administration DOD, State Department, and IC, as well as the assessment of our European allies,&rdquo; Warner said. &ldquo;Instead, you blamed the United States for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/congressional-gop-introduces-largest-package-of-iran-sanctions-in-history\/\" title=\"Congressional GOP Introduces Largest Package of Iran Sanctions in History\">supporting terrorist groups<\/a> in Syria.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The Virginia Democrat immediately pointed to her previous support for National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, which lawmakers on both sides of the aisle view as having damaged U.S. national security.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Tulsi Gabbard, President Donald Trump&rsquo;s nominee to be director of national intelligence, arrives to testify during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Jan. 30, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;You have been publicly outspoken in your praise and defense of Edward Snowden &mdash; someone who betrayed the trust and jeopardized the security of our nation,&rdquo; Warner said. &ldquo;Furthermore, when given the opportunity to clarify your position in the committee&rsquo;s pre-hearing questions, you declined &hellip; and instead you expressed that, and I quote, &lsquo;The DNI &hellip; has no role in determining whether or not Edward Snowden is a lawful whistleblower.&rsquo;&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The director of national intelligence leads 18 agencies that make up the U.S. intelligence community.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1957709\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1957709\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tulsi Gabbard asserts she is no one&#8217;s &#8220;puppet&#8221; at her confirmation hearing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3649,"featured_media":2396986,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/GettyImages-2196777461.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[32431,9224,32171,46899,37690],"class_list":["post-2396985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-2024-election","tag-independence","tag-political-commentary","tag-political-statement","tag-tulsi-gabbard"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/GettyImages-2196777461.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2396985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3649"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2396985"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2396985\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2396989,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2396985\/revisions\/2396989"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2396986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2396985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2396985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2396985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}