Republican Swing Vote On Intel Committee Unconvinced Tulsi Gabbard Has Actually Flipped On Key Policy Position

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) spoke to the Hill’s Al Weaver in an interview published on Monday, during which she suggested that Tulsi Gabbard’s last-minute conversion on intelligence gathering policy might not be what it appears.

Gabbard’s past support for revoking Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act has become a sticking point for several Republican senators as she seeks confirmation as President Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence.

Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) raised the issue in early January, which led to Gabbard putting out a rare comment on the topic. In a statement to Punchbowl’s Andrew Desiderio, Gabbard said, “Section 702, unlike other FISA authorities, is crucial for gathering foreign intelligence on non-U.S. persons abroad. This unique capability cannot be replicated and must be safeguarded to protect our nation while ensuring the civil liberties of Americans.”

Weaver summed up his conversation with Collins, who is a key swing vote on the Senate Intelligence Committee, writing, “Gabbard has sought to walk back her past criticism of the program, but Collins told The Hill she doesn’t necessarily believe Gabbard’s change of heart.” The Intelligence Committee has a 9-8 partisan split, meaning that just one Republican voting with all the Democrats would tank a nomination from moving out of the committee.

“There are several questions I want to follow up on in the hearing,” Collins told the Hill, “because I want to hear her unpracticed responses.”

“But there are a lot of obvious issues,” Collins continued, adding:

Her answers to the written questions were very hedged on it. I know there’s been a lot of reporting that she’s changed her position. That’s not how I read her answers. I read them as, ‘I’ll take a look at the reforms and see if they meet my concerns.

Weaver also spoke to Sen. John Corny (R-TX) about Gabbard’s chances, “I think it remains to be seen. I think the jury’s still out.” He also reported:

A second Senate Republican agreed, telling The Hill that Gabbard “has a path [that] continues to narrow.”

Gabbard, a former progressive congresswoman, has long been seen as one of Trump’s more controversial cabinet nominees, given that some of her past statements are viewed by critics as favorable to Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad and Russia’s Vladimir Putin. Gabbard also viciously attacked Trump’s foreign policy during his first term, going so far as to accuse the then-president of “pimping” out U.S. troops and being Saudi Arabia’s “bitch.”