Tulsi Gabbard, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Director of National Intelligence, would, if confirmed by the U.S. Senate, oversee the entire U.S. Intelligence Community, encompassing all 18 agencies. Like many of Trump’s nominees, Gabbard, a controversial former Democratic Congresswoman and failed presidential candidate turned ultra-MAGA Republican who, as Mother Jones reports, has numerous political action committees (PACs).
“It’s uncommon for a politician to have three or four separate PACs, though they can be used for different purposes,” political scientist and campaign finance expert Sarah Bryner told Mother Jones. “The most common number is one. Generally the more you have is because of obfuscation. It confuses people.”
Mother Jones's D.C. Bureau Chief David Corn, writes: "If Gabbard reaches a Senate confirmation hearing, there will be much for the senators to grill her on, especially her sympathetic views regarding Putin and Russia and her support for Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, as well as her efforts to help Edward Snowden and Julian Assange, who each exposed top-secret information that caused damage for the intelligence community."
"A key question will be whether someone as excessively partisan as Gabbard can be a fair-minded and even-handed overseer of the intelligence agencies, the intelligence they produce, and the covert actions they mount. Senate Intelligence Committee investigators should be sure to examine the network of organizations she has built and the flow of money in and out of her nonprofit. There are few jobs in the federal government as important as managing the sprawling US intelligence community. With no direct intelligence experience, Gabbard deserves scrutiny of all matters that can shed light on her fitness for this post," Corn warns.
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Former Trump National Security Adviser John Bolton called Gabbard "the worst cabinet-level appointment in history," and told CNN (video below) it is "an absolute necessity" Gabbard and all of Trump's nominees have a full FBI background check.
According to Mother Jones, Gabbard's PACs include Defend Freedom, Inc., which is "is one of a network of organizations Gabbard has assembled in recent years."
Gabbard also has a Super PAC called For Love of Country, Inc., which "described itself as 'Tulsi’s vehicle for messaging in the 2024 election, including a national ad campaign to communicate with middle-of-the-road voters, disenfranchised Democrats, and undecided Independents.' It claimed, 'For Love of Country PAC will use traditional and disruptive methods to blend the tried-and-true approach with innovation to reach otherwise unlikely voting demographics.'"
"It looks as if this PAC funded by pro-Trump Republican money-bags mostly existed to cover the costs of Gabbard’s political team," Corn writes.
There is another PAC, Our Freedom, Our Future, and still another, Team Tulsi, along with a nonprofit, We Must Protect.
"Tens of thousands of people," Mother Jones reports, contributed to Gabbard’s Defend Freedom PAC. "Through mid-October it raised $1.9 million, including a $16,552 transfer from another Gabbard PAC called Team Tulsi."
But, out of "all the money it pulled in, Defend Freedom, Inc. devoted only $20,000 to contributions for a small number of candidates, all far-right MAGA-ish Republicans: US Senate candidates Kari Lake and Tim Sheehy, and US House contenders Joe Kent, Brian Jack, and Mayra Flores. (Before running for a congressional seat in 2022, Flores published social media posts promoting QAnon.) Where did all the money go?"
"Gabbard’s outfit spent $1.3 million on operating expenses—at least $1 million on fundraising and direct mail, according to its filings with the Federal Election Commission. Like many PACs, it acted mainly as a money-churning machine that generated donations that mostly profited vendors and consultants."
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Corn also reports that Gabbard's For Love of Country PAC "banked hefty checks from several big-money Republican funders. The biggest amount came from a donor named David Flory, who sent Gabbard’s PAC a whopping $100,000. On the PAC’s FEC filing, it neglected to note—as it is compelled to do—Flory’s occupation and employer.
Corn details how he tried to track down more information about the donation and the donor.
"Asked about the $100,000 contribution to Gabbard’s PAC and the address tied to it, [Flory] said, 'Doesn’t sound familiar,' and he tried to end the conversation. Pressed as to whether he had made a donation to Gabbard, he said, 'I’m not interested in talking to you about it.' Sounding irritated, he addressed his wife, 'Julie, don’t take these calls. Just hang up on them.' He then left the call."
On social media, Corn adds: "An investigation of Tulsi Gabbard's PACs shows much of the funds raised have gone to fundraising & to pay her advisers, not the stated mission of the PACs. Plus, she won't reveal the donors to a charity she runs. All this needs vetting."
Watch the video below or at this link.
It is an absolute necessity that Tulsi Gabbard & other top-level appointees have a full FBI background investigation. This isn’t discriminatory against Tulsi Gabbard; everyone should have a full background check, especially the nominee for Director of National Intelligence. pic.twitter.com/qS4Opg9amQ
— John Bolton (@AmbJohnBolton) November 25, 2024
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