Tulsi Gabbard Refuses to Say Whether Iran Was Imminent Nuclear Threat

Tulsi Gabbard wouldn’t say Wednesday that Iran presented an “imminent threat,” claiming it wasn’t the director of national intelligence’s job to actually assess threats.

During a hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee to discuss the intelligence community’s annual threat assessment report, Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff questioned Gabbard about the White House’s claim that Donald Trump’s illegal war in Iran was “a military campaign to eliminate the imminent nuclear threat posed by the Iranian regime.”

“Was it the assessment of the intelligence community that there was an imminent nuclear threat posed by the Iranian regime?” Ossoff asked.

“The intelligence community assessed that Iran maintained the intention to rebuild and to continue to grow their nuclear enrichment capability,” Gabbard replied.

The Georgia Democrat repeated his question, and Gabbard pivoted.

“Senator, the only person who can determine what is and is not an imminent threat is the president—” Gabbard said.

“False,” Ossoff said, before reminding Gabbard that the hearing on worldwide threats was her opportunity to present intelligence that was “timely, objective, and independent of political considerations.”

Intelligence officials, including Gabbard, are charged with determining the credibility and severity of national security threats and passing that information to the president, who then has the power to declare a national emergency, according to U.S. law. The intelligence community’s actual findings, however, directly contradicted Trump’s determination of an imminent threat, as well as his administration’s inexplicable claims that Iran had the capability to build multiple nuclear weapons.

Gabbard would have Americans believe it is a matter of opinion whether a threat is imminent. Evidence of any actual danger is not required.

“You’ve stated today that the Intelligence Community’s assessment is that Iran’s nuclear enrichment program was ‘obliterated’ and that ‘there were no efforts since then to try and rebuild their enrichment capability,’” Ossoff continued, referring to Gabbard’s written remarks (during the start of the hearing, she tried to omit this portion).

“Was it the intelligence community’s assessment that, nevertheless, despite this ‘obliteration,’ there was an ‘imminent nuclear threat posed by the Iranian regime?’ Yes or no?” he repeated.

“It is not the intelligence community’s responsibility to determine what is and is not an imminent threat. It is up to the president based on a volume of information that he receives,” Gabbard replied.

“It is precisely your responsibility,” Ossoff said, pointing back to her own opening statement, where she’d promised to represent the intelligence community’s “assessment of threats.” How had she become so unqualified within the course of a day?

Gabbard retreated into word salad. “Once again, senator, the intelligence community has provided the inputs that make up this threat assessment. It is the nature of the imminent threat that the president has to make that determination,” and so on.

Ossoff accused Gabbard of evading the question, “because to provide a candid response to the committee would contradict a statement from the White House.”

Meanwhile, Gabbard couldn’t explain why Trump appeared not to understand the actual stakes of the conflict he started—Iran’s retaliation, or the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.