National intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard has admitted that her real views about Donald Trump’s Iran strikes must be “checked at the door,” while revealing that the war was weighing heavily on her.
In an often tense House committee hearing on Thursday, Gabbard—a former Democrat and military veteran—was at pains to reconcile her long-held anti-intervention views with the role Trump gave her overseeing America’s intelligence agencies.
Under questioning by Democrat Congressman Ami Bera, Gabbard was reminded about comments made during her 2020 presidential campaign, when she warned that a conflict with Iran would be catastrophic and make America’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan “look like a picnic.”
Asked if she stood by those views, the director of national intelligence replied: “In this role, it is essential that I do not allow any of my personal views on any of these issues to color or bias any of the intelligence reporting that we deliver to you and to the president.”
Gabbard was also confronted about the human and financial cost of the war, which has so far killed 13 U.S. servicemen, involved the bombing of a girls’ elementary school in Iran, and left thousands of Iranian civilians dead or displaced.
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth also confirmed on Thursday that he would be seeking about $200 billion for the ongoing cost of the war, declaring that “it takes money to kill bad guys.”
“Director Gabbard, do you still believe that strikes against Iran, that don’t have congressional authorization, constitute an illegal and unconstitutional act of war?” Bera asked.
She replied: “The cost of war weighs very heavily upon me and my colleagues here, especially for those of us who have experienced and seen the cost of war firsthand.
But in terms of “my own personal and political views,” Gabbard added, “I was asked and required by Congress and by the president in this role as the director of national intelligence to check those views at the door, to ensure that the intelligence assessments are not colored by my personal views. And that’s exactly what I am responsible for delivering.”
The House select committee hearing, one day after Gabbard also testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee, took place as a MAGA civil war foments over the bombshell resignation of Joe Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center.
In a resignation letter posted on social media, Kent, who reported to Gabbard, declared he “cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran” and claimed “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation.
“It is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby,” he wrote, in comments that have enraged the White House.
Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik asked Gabbard if she agreed with Kent’s letter.
“He said a lot of things in that letter,” she replied. “Ultimately, we have provided the president with the intelligence assessments, and the president is elected by the American people and makes his own decisions based on the information that’s available to him.
“Does that statement he made, blaming Israel, concern you?” Stefanik pressed.
“Yes,” Gabbard replied.
But the hearing was challenging for Gabbard, who was warned by the White House yesterday that they would be watching her testimony with interest.
The former Democrat Congresswoman has been noticeably absent from Trump’s inner circle lately, prompting rumors within MAGA world that she may be on borrowed time.
“Kent reports to Tulsi Gabbard,” right-wing firebrand Laura Loomer wrote on X this week, describing Kent as a “notorious leaker.”
“I have been warning you all about Joe Kent for a long time now. I predict Tulsi Gabbard will resign next.”
Gabbard was also notably absent during recent U.S. strikes in Venezuela, fueling speculation about internal disagreements over the administration’s expanding military posture.
Asked on Thursday if she believed there had been an imminent nuclear threat posed by Iran—something Trump has claimed to justify the war—Gabbard repeated her earlier claim that it was up to the president to decide.
