An Open Letter to Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's Pick for National Intelligence

Your Complicity with Tyrants Makes You Unfit to Lead

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Dear Ms. Gabbard,

Your nomination as Director of National Intelligence (DNI) is not just a misstep—it’s a catastrophe waiting to happen. Entrusting someone with your record—marked by overt sympathies for despots, a troubling embrace of conspiracy theories, and a consistent undermining of credible intelligence—with safeguarding America’s security is a risk this country cannot afford to take.

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Your Record with Assad: A Legacy of Complicity

Your meetings with Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian dictator who oversaw the systemic murder, torture, and displacement of millions, are indefensible. These were not acts of diplomacy but of legitimization—your clear endorsement of one of the most brutal regimes in modern history. By traveling to Damascus in 2017 for a rogue, unauthorized meeting with Assad—while his forces bombed hospitals, gassed children, and reduced entire cities to rubble—you granted credibility to a man universally condemned as a war criminal. Now, with Assad’s regime in ruins and himself in exile, facing extradition to Russia, your role in providing him with legitimacy is more damning than ever.

Worse still, you echoed Assad’s propaganda, publicly questioning verified U.S. intelligence that confirmed his use of chemical weapons against his own people—acts so heinous they shocked the conscience of the world. These actions weren’t just misguided; they emboldened a tyrant at the height of his atrocities, betrayed the victims of his regime, and undermined America’s moral authority. Your willingness to parrot the lies of a butcher remains one of the darkest stains on your public record and an enduring testament to your unfitness to lead.

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A Danger to Intelligence and Trust

As DNI, you would have access to the most sensitive intelligence this country possesses. Yet your history raises troubling questions about your judgment and your allegiance to the truth. Your skepticism of U.S. intelligence findings—whether concerning Assad’s war crimes or Russia’s interference in our elections—suggests a pattern of placing ideology above evidence.

Your penchant for embracing conspiracy theories only heightens these concerns. By amplifying Russian propaganda about U.S.-funded “biolabs” in Ukraine, you didn’t just flirt with disinformation—you legitimized it, echoing the delusions of QAnon and 4chan conspiracy hubs. Your baseless claims about a Democratic Party cabal conspiring against you and your dismissal of verified intelligence on Assad’s chemical attacks reflect the same reckless, bad-faith rhetoric that destabilizes democracies. These aren’t the actions of a principled leader; they’re the tactics of someone willing to exploit paranoia for personal and political gain.

This is not a theoretical risk. In 2018, bipartisan congressional staffers were so alarmed by your associations that they took extraordinary precautions to protect the identity of a Syrian defector testifying about Assad’s atrocities. They feared not just incompetence on your part but outright betrayal. Their concerns were not baseless, nor are those of America’s allies in the Five Eyes intelligence alliance—a partnership among the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand for intelligence sharing—who may withhold crucial information if you are confirmed.

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Trump’s Authoritarian Playbook

Your nomination is consistent with Donald Trump’s long-standing admiration for autocrats. It is no coincidence that someone who excused Vladimir Putin’s aggression and Assad’s barbarity would be his choice for DNI. Trump’s pattern of elevating individuals who echo authoritarian talking points is not about serving America; it’s about eroding the very institutions that protect us.

Your alignment with Trump is unsurprising but no less troubling. Together, you and he represent a dangerous blend of ignorance, opportunism, and authoritarian sympathy. Where Trump exploits division, you cloak it in faux moralism, claiming to be a voice for peace while championing regimes that thrive on violence.

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A Line in the Sand

Your defenders will argue that this is a smear campaign—that your critics fear your "anti-establishment" perspective. But this is not about ideology; it is about competence and trustworthiness. You have neither. To entrust you with the leadership of America’s intelligence community would be to gamble with our national security and our moral standing in the world.

The Senate must reject your nomination—not reluctantly, not cautiously, but unequivocally. Your record is clear, your judgment fatally flawed, and your principles unmoored. The stakes are too high for equivocation.

Yours in defense of truth and justice,
Mersault

P.S. Tulsi, when you next bow at Trump’s feet, remind him that fawning over dictators won’t make him one—it just makes him look sad and desperate.

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If you enjoyed this article, please subscribe (a paid subscription would be incredible!), restack, and tap the Buy Me a Coffee button ☕. Your support keeps me fueled to call out the corrupt and complicit.