Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and members of the Trump transition team are warning against blatant Democratic efforts to derail and sabotage the confirmation hearing for Tulsi Gabbard, the nominee for Director of National Intelligence. Senator Cotton is organizing to ensure that hearings are held for both Gabbard and John Ratcliffe, nominee for CIA Director, before Inauguration Day, but is running up against the stalling tactics from committee vice chairman Mark Warner (D-VA). Warner had reportedly instructed other Democratic Senators not to meet with Gabbard until he did, and he only met with her yesterday—even though she put in a request to him on Nov. 27.
Committee rules stipulate that Gabbard must submit required paperwork to the committee one week prior to the hearing date which Senator Cotton wants to schedule for next week, given national security concerns. The paperwork includes a pre-hearing questionnaire, FBI background check, ethics report, etc. and Warner and his team say nothing will happen without the paperwork being delivered on time.
On Jan. 7 Axios reported Warner claims he hasn’t yet received all of the required paperwork and that nothing will happen until it is in hand. According to Fox News Digital, Warner specified that the committee hasn’t yet received a pre-hearing questionnaire or any ethics disclosure or FBI background check.