WATCH: In Senate Floor Speech, Kelly Lays Out Why Gabbard is Dangerous Nominee for Director of National Intelligence

“Everything we have seen from Colonel Gabbard throughout this process suggests she’s the wrong person to do it”

Last night, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly spoke on the Senate floor ahead of the confirmation vote for Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, nominee for Director of National Intelligence. Kelly, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, had pressed Gabbard during her nomination hearing about her decision-making and her record of disputing U.S. intelligence assessments.   

In his speech, Kelly emphasized that everything learned during her confirmation process suggests she is not the right person for the job. He particularly detailed her support for pardoning Edward Snowden, her hostility towards FISA 702 intelligence collection, and her disputing the U.S. assessment of Assad using chemical weapons in Syria. 

“The real moment of truth came when Senator Lankford asked her what he himself has said publicly was a softball question: was Edward Snowden a traitor. It really should have been easy. If you believe Edward Snowden broke the law, and the law he broke is the Espionage Act, it’s pretty clear that’s exactly what he is: a traitor. She wouldn’t answer,” Kelly said about one of the exchanges in Gabbard’s confirmation hearing in the Intelligence Committee.  

Sen. Kelly speaks on the Senate floor

On Gabbard’s contradictory positions on FISA 702—the program that enables us to monitor the communications of foreign actors outside the United States to combat terrorism—Kelly emphasized: “About 60% of the president’s brief every day is derived from intelligence gathered through this program, the very brief Colonel Gabbard would be responsible for compiling every day. Without it, we’d be exposed, less able to detect and prevent terror attacks. Attacks against the American people. But that’s exactly what Colonel Gabbard tried to do.”

Finally, Kelly described how Gabbard publicly cast doubt on former President Bashar Al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons. 

“By her own admission, Colonel Gabbard’s doubts about U.S. intelligence in these two cases began with her disagreements about how that intelligence was going to be used. She didn’t want the U.S. and our allies to strike Syria as punishment for these chemical weapons attacks, so instead of making a strong argument on the policy, she tried to question whether the attacks happened in the first place,” Kelly noted. 

At the end of his speech, Kelly shared the significance of the job and why Gabbard is not up for it. 

“We face threats that grow more complicated by the day. Our intelligence community is the best in the world at gathering intelligence of all kinds. The hardest part is sifting through that information and making sense of what it means. Making determinations. That’s what this job is all about. And everything we have seen from Colonel Gabbard throughout this process suggests she’s the wrong person to do it.” 

Click here to view and download Sen. Kelly’s remarks.