Mark Warner: Tulsi Gabbard 'not competent'

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, on Friday bashed Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.

“Tulsi Gabbard is not competent to be the director of national intelligence,” he told moderator Peter Baker at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado. "I believe she is trying to politicize the workforce and work product, and that makes America less safe."

His comments came just before Gabbard released a Friday report alleging that Obama-era officials engaged in a "treasonous conspiracy" to alter intelligence regarding Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

"Their goal was to subvert the will of the American people and enact what was essentially a years-long coup with the objective of trying to usurp the President from fulfilling the mandate bestowed upon him by the American people," Gabbard said.

The intelligence community has long concluded that Russia sought to influence the 2016 election.

Warner later on Friday railed against Gabbard's report in a statement, citing the Senate Intelligence Committee investigation, which "reaffirmed that 'the Russian government directed extensive activity against U.S. election infrastructure.'"

"This conclusion was supported on a unanimous basis by every single Democrat and Republican on the committee,” the long-time critic of Gabbard wrote, noting that the probe found that social media was used to benefit President Trump's election.

A DNI official pushed back on Warner's remarks Friday, calling him a "loser."

"Since he’s dumb enough to fall for politicized intelligence like the debunked Russia Hoax, I think we’re good not taking advice from him," Gabbard's deputy chief of staff Alexa Henning wrote on the social media platform X.

The president and his allies have railed against the Russia investigation for years, long calling it a "hoax."

Warner's critique, which came during a panel alongside fellow Democrat Sen. Chris Coons (Del.), also focused on the administration's decision to axe the director of the National Security Agency in April as well as this spring's Signal group chat controversy.

"You have efforts on politicized product,” he said, referencing top officials using Signal to discuss strikes on the Houthis. “Last time that happened, we had a war in Iraq.” 

Gabbard previously claimed there was no classified information discussed in the chat.