Analysis-Spy world vexed by Trump choice of Gabbard as US intelligence chief

By Matt Spetalnick, Michael Martina and Humeyra Pamuk

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President-elect Donald Trump’s choice of Tulsi Gabbard as U.S. intelligence chief has sent shockwaves through the national security establishment, adding to concerns that the sprawling intelligence community will become increasingly politicized.

Trump’s nomination of Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman who lacks deep intelligence experience and is seen as soft on Russia and Syria, is among several high-level picks that suggest he may be prioritizing personal allegiance over competence as he assembles his second-term team.

Among the risks, say current and former intelligence officials and independent experts, are that top advisers could feed the incoming Republican president a distorted view of global threats based on what they believe will please him and that foreign allies may be reluctant to share vital information.

Randal Phillips, a former CIA operations directorate official who worked as the agency’s top representative in China, said that with Trump loyalists in top government posts, “this could become the avenue of choice for some really questionable actions” by the leadership of the intelligence community.

A Western security source said there could be an initial slowdown in intelligence sharing when Trump takes office in January that could potentially impact the “Five Eyes,” an intelligence alliance comprising the U.S., Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The worry from U.S. allies is that Trump’s appointments all lean in the “wrong direction”, the source said.

Trump’s presidential transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Inside and outside the U.S. intelligence network, much of the anxiety focuses on Trump’s choice of Gabbard, 43, as director of national intelligence, especially given her views seen as sympathetic to Russia in its war against Ukraine.

While Trump has made some conventional personnel decisions such as that of Senator Marco Rubio for secretary of state, Wednesday’s announcement of Gabbard, an officer in the U.S. Army Reserves, surprised even some Republican insiders. She is likely to face tough questioning in her Senate confirmation hearings.

Gabbard, who left the Democratic Party in 2022, has stirred controversy over her criticism of President Joe Biden’s support for Ukraine, which has prompted some critics to accuse her of parroting Kremlin propaganda.

She also spoke out against U.S. military intervention in the civil war in Syria under former President Barack Obama and met in 2017 with Moscow-backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, with whom Washington severed all diplomatic ties in 2012.

The selection of Gabbard has raised alarm in the ranks of intelligence officers unsure of how tightly she holds some of her geopolitical views, whether she is misinformed or simply echoing Trump’s “Make America Great Again” followers, one intelligence official said on condition of anonymity.

“Of course there’s going to be resistance to change from the ‘swamp’ in Washington,” Gabbard said in a Fox News interview on Wednesday night. She said voters had given Trump “an incredible mandate” to move away from Biden’s agenda but offered no policy specifics.

ALLIES ATTENTIVE

A senior European intelligence official said agencies in European Union countries “will be pragmatic and ready to adapt to the changes.” “No panic in the air for now,” the official added.

A European defense official described Gabbard as “firmly” in the Russia camp.

“But we have to deal with what we have. We will be attentive,” the official said.

Some analysts said concerns about Gabbard could be tempered by Trump’s choice to head the CIA: John Ratcliffe, a former congressman who served as director of national intelligence at the end of Trump’s first term.

Though close to Trump and expected to offer little pushback against his policies, Ratcliffe is not seen as an incendiary figure and could act as a counterbalance to Gabbard in his post atop the No. 1 spy agency among the 18 that she would oversee.

But some analysts said that by attempting to install Gabbard with other controversial loyalists, including congressman Matt Gaetz for attorney general and Fox commentator and military veteran Pete Hegseth for defense secretary, Trump is showing he wants no guardrails to his efforts to remake federal institutions.

Democratic critics were quick to pounce not only on Gabbard’s views but what they see as her lack of qualifications and the potential the new administration could deploy intelligence for political ends.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence was created after the Sept 11, 2001 attacks to fix what was seen as a lack of coordination between those organizations.

“She isn’t being put in this job to do the job or to be good at it. She’s being put there to serve Donald Trump’s interests,” U.S. Rep. Adam Smith, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, told CNN on Thursday.

SUPPORT FOR ISOLATIONIST POLICIES

After leaving the Democratic Party, Gabbard became increasingly critical of Biden and grew popular among conservatives, often appearing on far-right TV and radio shows, where she became known for supporting isolationist policies and showing disdain for “wokeness.”

Shortly after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Gabbard wrote in a social media post: “This war and suffering could have easily been avoided if Biden admin/NATO had simply acknowledged Russia’s legitimate security concerns regarding Ukraine’s becoming a member of NATO.”

Rubio, a former Trump rival turned supporter, defended Gabbard’s nomination, describing her as a “revolutionary pick that has a chance to really make a positive change.”

But some other Republicans were more non-committal.

Asked about Gabbard’s qualifications, Senator John Cornyn, a member of the Intelligence Committee, said: “We’re going to do our job, vet the nominees and make a decision. That’s a constitutional responsibility of the Senate.”

To become director of national intelligence, Gabbard must first be confirmed by a majority of the 100-member U.S. Senate, where she could face headwinds.

Trump’s fellow Republicans will have at least a 52-48 seat majority in the chamber starting in January, and have in the past been eager to back the party leader, increasing the likelihood that she will secure the post.

“Our friends are watching as closely as our foes, and they are asking what this all means for the pre-eminent player in global intelligence collection and analysis,” said one former U.S. intelligence officer who worked in some of the world’s hotspots.

(Reporting by Matt Spetalnick, Michael Martina and Humeyra Pamuk; Additional reporting by Sarah Lynch, David Brunnstrom and Patricia Zengerle in Washington, Jonathan Saul in London, John Irish and Lili Bayer in Paris; Writing by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Don Durfee and Alistair Bell)