Tulsi Gabbard faced tons of hostility in her congressional hearing as President Trump’s DNI nominee. Glenn speaks with The Federalist National Correspondent Tristan Justice, who argues that the Deep State will go after her, even if she’s confirmed. “She can’t afford to lose a single vote on the committee,” he says, and there are quite a few Republican senators on this committee who are questionable. Tristan also touches on Kash Patel's nomination hearing and RFK Jr.’s hearing, in which nearly every Democrat was hostile towards him.
Transcript
Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors
GLENN: One of my favorite guests is Tristan Justice. The Federalist national correspondent. Coauthor of Fat and Unhappy.
Welcome, Tristan. How are you?
TRISTAN: Good. How are you?
GLENN: So I read your story in the Federalist, and I think it tells everything people need to know about what Tulsi Gabbard is facing. Can you -- can you relay it, your main points here for the audience?
TRISTAN: Yeah. Of course, the New York Times came out with a story that Tulsi Gabbard came under scrutiny from the Deep State for her overseas travel.
That includes intelligence that she apparently met with this leader of Hezbollah. And that is based on two anonymous terrorist sources.
And so this is really just kind of the same playbook, that they always use, whenever there's been a disruptor, threatening to change the status quo. The Deep State can and will make up, and do anything it really wants, to topple that political opponent.
The same thing they do with Donald Trump.
And now it's the same thing they do with Tulsi Gabbard, as she threatens to take over the director of National Intelligence.
GLENN: I think she has the most dangerous job. I mean, the president obviously.
But when you get into the Deep State and Intelligence, you've got spooks everywhere.
And, you know, I -- I wouldn't be -- I wouldn't be sleeping well at night.
Knowing that I was going in to take down black ops.
Take down things that nobody wants to have the light of day come on.
Even people in your own party. Would you agree with that assessment?
TRISTAN: Yeah, I mean, I think out of any of Trump's nominees, I think the one who probably has -- is probably Tulsi Gabbard.
GLENN: Yeah. Yeah.
TRISTAN: But it's not too hard to imagine, because what she is up against.
She is running as the disruptor of the status quo that has been in Washington for decades at this point. You saw how hard the Deep State went after Donald Trump for eight years. You know, it didn't stop once the Russiagate hoax fell apart in 2018, after the Mueller Report.
So you saw host after host after host, culminating in 91 state and federal charges trying to bankrupt their political opponent.
And so I think whenever these cabinet nominees, whenever these politicians raise their hands and threaten to disrupt, that regime in Washington, you know, the nail that sticks up, gets knocked down.
That's exactly what's happening, against the Deep State.
GLENN: Right.
I mean, the church commission happened in the '70s. And it exposed all kinds of things that America didn't understand.
What her job is, as I understand it, you know, the DNI was created after 9/11.
So it is responsible for all of the agencies talking to each other. So she has access to all of the agencies.
And Trump has said to her, I want you to go in and find all the bodies that have been buried. I want to find out exactly what's going on. What's corrupt. What's not. And we will shut it down.
This is -- if people think, well, what about the CIA?
She's going to be the one leading -- how many is it?
How many agencies are there? Like 118?
No. Eighteen. Good, not 118. Eighteen intelligence agencies and bureaus.
That's a lot.
TRISTAN: Can you imagine if there would be 118 agencies and bureaus?
So we just created this massive government, Washington has just been out of control.
And when we think, that, oh, Americans might be safer with someone like Tulsi Gabbard, taking the role of DNI. And making the DNI. And the intelligence community do what it's supposed to do.
And that is protect our national security to the highest standards, while protecting our civil liberties of Americans.
And so, but, you know, Tulsi is about to go into this hearing. It probably will be a hostile hearing.
There should be no surprise on fireworks, that I think people are about to see. Hear in a couple of moments.
But I would just say this about Tulsi. She should not be going into this hearing, guns blazing as the destructor and reformer that she has campaigned on.
Because she has to convince them, that is reluctant to reform that status quo, that her top interest in running the nation's intelligence agencies is protecting our national security while safeguarding American civil liberties.
If she goes in there, guns blazing as the disruptor, and she will not score points to the very senators she has to convince with their vote.
Especially for the secret vote like this one.
GLENN: So Tristan, tell me about the Republicans that are on this committee.
How many of them do you think are interested in reform?
TRISTAN: Well, she can't afford to lose a single vote on the committee. Or else, she won't pass the committee.
But it's not unprecedented for a nominee to be voted on for the full Senate vote. While not passing the committee.
One lawmaker that people are watching here, is Senator (inaudible) called -- she had just voted against Trump's pick for the Department of Defense, Pete Hegseth last week.
She's not -- she never was intimidated to reject nominees from President Trump. There's also a number of other senators on the committee, who are questionable. Senator Todd Young, who did not support Trump.
People are saying, he -- so I think Collins and Young are the two primary senators to watch this process, continues to unfold.
GLENN: Are we going to find out. It's my understanding.
DNI. The committee vote is always a secret vote.
You will know the number. And you won't know who voted what.
But I think is an abomination. Are we going to have that vote out in the open?
Are we going to know?
TRISTAN: Well, I certainly hope it will be public and transparent. I think Americans deserve that, especially after elections where President Trump was given such a mandate.
Right?
I think his nominees should enjoy that same mandate, unless something is abjectly disqualifying, that were issued to keep them from a power position. Democrats have often picked their battles. Some of their other nominees made it through, no problem.
Sean Duffy, transportation. Doug Burgum can confirm. And these other nominees have gone through with very little drama.
Obviously, honed in on unsurprisingly the two nominees who were former Democrats, prior to this last election. Robert F Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard. It seems one of their biggest defenses to Democrats, is meeting the party in the first place.
So I'm a little surprised, Democrats honed in on details in particular.
GLENN: Right. Right.
So let's talk about the other nominations.
How do you think RFK did yesterday?
TRISTAN: Well, Robert F. Kennedy as big Pharma and the chief antagonist is no surprise.
He went into another hostile hearing yesterday.
GLENN: Oh, my gosh. It was insane. It was insane.
TRISTAN: But I do think there was some surprise as to how hostile Democrats were in that hearing yesterday. The hostility was near unanimous among every Democrat on that panel. And I think there was some -- at least some hope from the Trump transition team and the Kennedy's team, that they might pull a Democrat or two. But I think those hopes probably faded. And right from the getgo, when the first thing Ron Wyden did once they opened the questioning period was, enter into the Congressional Record, a letter sent from Kennedy's cousin, Carolyn Kennedy, the former ambassador to Australia with still personal hysterical attacks that Robert F. Kennedy that he has predators as pets, and putting chickens in the blender.
I mean, the fact that the Democrat-ranking member on the Senate finance committee would enter a letter full of personal attacks from a family member, said all you needed to know about how the rest of those three and a half members went for the Democrats and Kennedy.
GLENN: Is he going to make it, do you think?
TRISTAN: I think Kennedy is up in the air. I think Republicans largely showed, that they're not too willing to resist Trump's wish for this pick for Health and Human Services. I think if Republicans are going to reject Trump's pick on any of these nominees, it will probably be Tulsi Gabbard after they pose -- oppose Pete Hegseth for McConnell.
But I -- I'm not sure Kennedy is a sure thing. And I don't think Kennedy thinks he's sure in a confirmation bill either.
So I think a lot hinges on this next hearing here in a couple of moments.
GLENN: So tell me about Kash Patel.
TRISTAN: Hmm. Well, Kash Patel is running against the same apparatus of Tulsi Gabbard, of course. He hasn't faced the same level of attacks with anonymous sources, leaking to the New York Times. These terrorists are claiming, that he met with -- overseas.
GLENN: Right. Right. No pictures of him with Hitler. Yet!
So it's good.
TRISTAN: But Kash Patel, he's been a conservative media personnel for the past four years.
He's blown the whistle on some of the lies of the January 6 committee, claiming that he was formerly the chief of staff, the Department of Defense at the end of Trump's first term, and he blew the whistle on, no.
Trump did actually demand 10,000 national guard troops to the Democrats, both to the Democrats, both within the Department of Defense and running Washington, DC.
And running House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's death, reduce the president's request at every opportunity they had. And so Kash Patel, Democrats, and probably some of the Republicans, with someone more in the role of Christopher Wray.
Who was perfectly weathering to weaponize the agency, to -- to prosecute political dissidents.
And I think it's -- it's -- but Kash Patel, what Tulsi has to do today.
And that is, convince what the senator, what his top priority is.
Returning the FBI to its intended purpose. Which is to keep Americans safe, while protecting civil liberties.
GLENN: Tristan, thank you.
I'm a big fan of your writing.
And thank you for being on the program. I appreciate it.
TRISTAN: Thank you for having me.
GLENN: The Federalist National Correspondent Tristan Justice.