Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 31, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba Read the Winter issue at: winnipegfreepress.com/fp-features Available in your Free Press (subscribers) on March 29 and at Manitoba Liquor Marts - while supplies last! SPRING 2025 ISSUE OF DON’T MISS THE COMING SOON! A8 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM NEWS I WORLD FRIDAY, JANUARY 31, 2025 Kennedy, Patel questioned in confirmation hearings, Burgum confirmed Gabbard grilled about Snowden, Syria and Russia W ASHINGTON — Tulsi Gabbard, U.S. President Donald Trump’s pick to be director of nation- al intelligence, faced sharp criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike Thursday during a fiery confirmation hearing focused on her past comments sympathetic to Russia, a meeting with Syria’s now-deposed leader and her past support for government leaker Ed- ward Snowden. Gabbard started her hearing by tell- ing lawmakers that big changes are needed to address years of failures from America’s intelligence service. She said too often intelligence has been false or politicized, leading to wars, foreign policy failures and the misuse of espionage. And she said those laps- es have continued as the U.S. faces re- newed threats from Russia and China. Gabbard promised to be objective and noted her military service, say- ing she would bring the same sense of duty and responsibility to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which oversees and co-ordinates the work of 18 intelligence agencies. The questions raised by senators about Gabbard’s judgment and experi- ence make her one of the more con- tentious of Trump’s Cabinet nominees. Given thin Republican margins in the Senate, she will need almost all GOP senators to vote yes in order to win con- firmation. A former Democratic congress- woman from Hawaii, Gabbard is a lieu- tenant colonel in the National Guard who deployed twice to the Middle East and ran for president in 2020. She has no formal intelligence experience, how- ever, and has never run a government agency or department. It’s Gabbard’s comments that have posed the biggest challenge to her con- firmation. She has repeatedly echoed Russian propaganda used to justify the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine and in the past opposed a key U.S. surveil- lance program. In a back-and-forth Thursday that at times grew heated, lawmakers from both parties raised concerns about her statements supportive of Snowden, a former National Security Agency con- tractor who fled to Russia after he was charged with revealing classified infor- mation about surveillance programs. A 2017 visit with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is another point of con- tention. Assad was recently deposed as his country’s leader following a brutal civil war in which he was accused of using chemical weapons. Following her visit, Gabbard faced criticism that she was legitimizing a dictator and then more questions when she said she was skeptical Assad had used chemical weapons. “I just do not understand how you can blame NATO for (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, and when Assad used chem- ical weapons against his own people, you didn’t condemn him,” said the com- mittee’s senior Democrat, Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia. Gabbard defended her meeting with Assad, saying she used the opportunity to press the Syrian leader on his human rights record. Senators also pressed her about her changing views of the surveillance program known as Section 702, which allows authorities to collect the com- munications of suspected terrorists overseas. As a lawmaker, Gabbard sponsored legislation that would have repealed it. She argued then that the program could be violating the rights of Americans whose communications are swept up inadvertently, but national security of- ficials say the program has saved lives. She now says she supports the program, noting new safeguards designed to pro- tect Americans’ privacy. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s bid to be the nation’s top health official is un- certain after a key Republican joined Democrats to raise persistent concerns over the nominee’s deep skepticism of routine childhood vaccinations that prevent deadly diseases. Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Repub- lican, ended a three-hour confirmation hearing Thursday by telling Kennedy that he was “struggling” with his nom- ination and might call him over the weekend, though he did not say how he would vote. Cassidy, a liver doctor who has regu- larly encouraged constituents to vac- cinate against COVID-19 and other diseases, implored Kennedy several times to reject theories vaccines cause diseases like autism. Kennedy’s refusal to do so clearly troubled Cassidy. If all Democrats reject Kennedy’s nomination, he can only afford to lose three Republican votes. Kennedy will also have to win over the swing votes of Sens. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Mitch McConnell, who have raised concerns about Kennedy and also voted against Trump’s defence secretary nominee. During a three-hour hearing with that committee Wednesday, Kennedy misstated basic facts about Medicare and Medicaid. Kash Patel, Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, insisted to deeply skeptical Democrats on Thursday he did not have an “enemies list” and the bureau under his leadership would not seek retribu- tion against the president’s adversaries or launch investigations for political purposes. The reassurances were aimed at blunting a persistent line of attack from Democrats who, throughout the hearing, confronted Patel with a vast catalog of prior incendiary statements on topics they said made him unfit for the director’s job and raised alarming questions about his belief in conspiracy theories and loyalty to the president. Patel, for his part, sought to distance himself from his own words, accusing Democrats of taking them out of con- text, highlighting only snippets or mis- understanding his point. Republicans control the Senate, and GOP members made clear their broad support for Patel and determination to get him confirmed over a Democratic minority that appeared united in its opposition but faces a mathematically uphill battle to block it. “We want to be the Senate that con- firms an FBI director that rights the ship, shows consistent respect for the rule of law and the Constitution, con- sistent respect for all law enforcement officers, and I absolutely believe you’re up to the task,” said Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina. A steadfast Trump ally, Patel was picked in November to replace Chris- topher Wray, who served for more than seven years but was forced out of the job Trump had appointed him to after being seen as insufficiently loyal to him. Patel has worked as both a federal prosecutor and defence lawyer and as- cended within Trump’s orbit during his first term when, as a Republican staffer on the House intelligence committee, he worked to bring to light flaws in the FBI’s investigation into ties between Russia and the 2016 Trump campaign. Patel found himself sharply and re- peatedly questioned by Democrats over his view of the Jan. 6, 2021, rioters at the U.S. Capitol. Democrats highlighted a social post about that day that referred to “cowards in uniform exposed” to accuse him of disparaging police who were defending the Capitol from the violent mob. But Patel insisted he was referring to military leaders he claims failed to mobilize the National Guard to protect the building. The Senate confirmed Doug Burgum as interior secretary late Thursday after Trump tapped the North Dakota billionaire to spearhead the Republic- an administration’s ambitions to boost fossil fuel production. More than half of Senate Democrats joined all 53 Repub- licans in voting for Burgum. Burgum, 68, is an ultra-wealthy soft- ware industry entrepreneur who came from a small North Dakota farming community, where he worked at his family’s grain elevator. He served two terms as governor of the oil-rich state and launched a presidential campaign in 2023, but dropped out months later and quickly endorsed Trump. Trump also picked Burgum to chair a new National Energy Council that’s tasked with achieving American “energy dominance.” He would have a seat on the National Security Council — a first for the interior secretary. His directive from Trump is to make it even easier for energy companies to tap fossil fuel resources, including from public lands. That raised alarms among environmentalists and some Democrats as greenhouse gas emis- sions from fossil fuels bake the planet. — The Associated Press JOHN MCDONNELL / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Tulsi Gabbard, U.S. President Donald Trump’s choice to be director of national intelligence, has no formal intelligence experience and has never run a government agency or department. ;