Before being elected U.S. Representative of Virginia’s 7th District in 2018, Abigail Spanberger was a CIA intelligence officer for eight years (2006-2014). In that role, Spanberger said she gathered intelligence about nuclear proliferation and terrorism.
The congresswoman, who is now a member of the House Intelligence Committee, does not approve of President-elect Donald Trump‘s nomination of former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) for the job as Director of National Intelligence.
As a former CIA case officer, I saw the men and women of the U.S. intelligence community put their lives on the line every day for this country — and I am appalled at the nomination of Tulsi Gabbard to lead DNI. (1/3)
— Rep. Abigail Spanberger (@RepSpanberger) November 13, 2024
Spanberger wrote on X: “As a former CIA case officer, I saw the men and women of the U.S. intelligence community put their lives on the line every day for this country — and I am appalled at the nomination of Tulsi Gabbard to lead DNI.
“Not only is she ill-prepared and unqualified, but she traffics in conspiracy theories and cozies up to dictators like Bashar-al Assad and Vladimir Putin.”
Spanberger added: “My Republican colleagues with a backbone should speak out” against the nomination of Gabbard who in Spanberger’s words, “is an unsuitable and potentially dangerous selection.”
The conservative magazine National Review only goes so far as saying that Gabbard is “an awkward fit with the Trump administration.”
I invited Tulsi Gabbard and Elise Stefanik to appear together at the Defense One Summit, seven years ago. Back then, they were rising rivals. Today, they’re on the verge of becoming Donald Trump’s UN ambassador and DNI. https://t.co/teio7Zr7PR
— Kevin Baron (@DefenseBaron) November 13, 2024
Note: Spanberger announced in November 2023 that she was not running for re-election to the House and would instead run for governor of Virginia in 2025. Incumbent Republican governor Glenn Youngkin is ineligible to run again (the state has a one-term rule). Spanberger’s top GOP opponent is Lt. Governor Winsome Sears.