US Vice President J.D. Vance said on Wednesday that bureaucrats in US intelligence agencies are "out of control" and defended Tulsi Gabbard, President Donald Trump's nominee for director of national intelligence, as the right person for the job, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
"The bureaucrats in our intelligence agencies are completely out of control," Vance said in an interview with CBS television, broadcast earlier today. "They are part of the weaponization of our political and judicial systems", he added.
"We have to have good intelligence agencies to protect us, but part of that is to restore trust in those agencies, and we think Tulsi is the right person to do that,", the US vice president stressed.
Gabbard's election in November as director of national intelligence has caused a national security shake-up, raising concerns that the intelligence community will become increasingly politicized, Reuters notes.
Gabbard, a former Democratic member of the US House of Representatives, lacks significant intelligence experience and has been critical of Trump in the past. Her supporters say she possesses the so-called healthy skepticism about U.S. foreign military intervention, in line with Trump's "America First" policy.
Asked about the criticism of Gabbard, even from more conservative quarters, Vance said he was confident Gabbard's nomination would be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The Senate Intelligence Committee has scheduled a hearing on her nomination for January 30.
"Two things are important to know about Tulsi. First of all, she is a career military member who has had the highest level of access to classified information for almost two decades," Vance said. "She has impeccable character, impeccable criminal record, and she is also someone who I believe will restore trust in the intelligence community," he added.