Senators Ask Gabbard Tough Questions on Iran War

Tulsi Gabbard told senators Wednesday that Iran's rulers are battered but still standing, and her own words quickly put her in the crosshairs. The director of national intelligence testified to the Senate Intelligence Committee that Tehran's regime "appears to be intact but largely degraded" after nearly three weeks of war, and said Iran is "trying to recover" from heavy US strikes on its nuclear facilities. That description clashed with her pre-released written remarks, which had asserted Iran made "no efforts" to rebuild its enrichment capacity—a point that would have undercut one of President Trump's stated reasons for launching the conflict, the Washington Post reports.

• When pressed by Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the committee, on the discrepancy, Gabbard said she skipped parts of the statement because "time was running long," prompting Warner to accuse her of choosing to "omit the parts that contradict the president."
• In response to questions from Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, Gabbard acknowledged that "the assessment of the intelligence community is that Iran's nuclear enrichment program was obliterated by last summer's air strikes" and there had been "no effort since then to try to rebuild their enrichment capability," CBS News reports. Asked whether the intelligence community thought Iran was an imminent nuclear threat, Gabbard said only the president "can determine what is and is not an imminent threat.
• Gabbard sidestepped the question when Warner asked if she had advised Trump that Iran would strike Gulf nations and shut down the Strait of Hormuz if it was attacked, the AP reports. "I have not and won't divulge internal conversations," she said. "I will say that those of us within the intelligence community continue to provide the president with all of the best objective intelligence available to inform his decisions."

• The high-profile hearing, which also featured CIA Director John Ratcliffe and FBI Director Kash Patel, came a day after National Counterterrorism Center chief Joe Kent, one of Gabbard's top aides, resigned in protest, arguing Iran posed "no imminent threat" and that Israel pushed Trump toward war.
• Republicans, including Intelligence Committee chair Sen. Tom Cotton, rejected Kent's view as "misguided."
• Warner used the session to question Gabbard's past role in election-related investigations and warn of an alleged effort to politicize national security powers at home.
• Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly asked Gabbard and Ratcliffe about a fundraising email from a pro-Trump political action committee that promised "private national security briefings," for donors, CBS reports. "I assume these are briefings, Director Ratcliffe, that you provide to the president that is now going to be provided to somebody who makes a donation?" Kelly asked. Ratcliffe said no such briefings had happened and they would not be allowed under the Hatch Act. Gabbard said she wasn't familiar with the email.