Sen. Hawley warns Tulsi Gabbard DNI confirmation ‘may be in jeopardy’

Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard was grilled on Capitol Hill Thursday and one Republican is worried her nomination as Director of National Intelligence could be in “jeopardy.”

Senator Josh Hawley spoke with Fox News’s Jesse Watters about the former Hawaii congresswoman’s tough questioning before lawmakers and concerns from GOP colleagues about her past.

“Do your Republican colleagues understand what will happen if they vote down Tulsi?” the host of “Jesse Watters Primetime” asked.

“I don’t know, And I have to tell you, I’m worried by what I hear from some of my Republican colleagues,” the Missouri congressman replied. “I’m worried that her nomination may be in jeopardy.”

“And I’m just worried about what that will mean,” he added.

“Her ‘sin’ is that she challenges the surveillance state,” Hawley explained. “She told the truth about the government spying on Americans and about the abuses of FISA. She went out there and was honest about it and for that, she is getting absolutely roasted and persecuted.”

He told Watters to “not pretend everything is fine and dandy and hunky-dory in the intelligence community. It’s not.”

Gabbard’s meeting with Syria’s former leader Bashar al-Assad was one of the points of contention during her confirmation hearing. The former Democrat and former presidential candidate was also grilled about her stance on former NSA intelligence contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden.

“Everybody is going to come to their own conclusions. There were issues she had to deal with and address,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters after the hearing. “We’ll see how it goes.”

Meanwhile, supporters of President Donald Trump unloaded on Republicans on social media, warning they had better “get in line” with the 47th president’s agenda and confirm his nominees.

Frieda Powers

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