Having sided with Bashar al-Assad while a member of the Democratic Party, the former congresswoman's hard-right turn and sympathy for the Kremlin have the intelligence community deeply concerned. View

Gabbard, a lieutenant colonel in the National Guard who served two tours in the Middle East, has alarmed some intelligence and national security officials in the U.S. and elsewhere with comments sympathetic to Russia and criticism of a critical surveillance program.

After years of voting against domestic surveillance capabilities, President Donald Trump’s choice for director of national intelligence now says she supports the continuation of those programs.