Tulsi Gabbard’s biography features some rare distinctions, including the fact that she was the first Samoan and the first Hindu to be elected to the United States Congress, where she served as the Democratic representative for Hawaii between 2013 and 2021.

But nothing sets her apart more than the fact that she is almost certainly the only potential head of US intelligence publicly suspected of being “groomed” by Russia – a suggestion made by Hillary Clinton, Trump’s defeated Democratic opponent when he ran for was first elected president. a podcast from 2019.

The accusation is now surprisingly relevant given Gabbard’s prominence in the nascent administration being assembled by Donald Trump, who on Wednesday selected Gabbard, 43, as director of national intelligence, sending shock waves through U.S. national security circles.

If confirmed by the Senate, Gabbard would oversee 18 intelligence agencies — including the CIA and FBI — that employ more than 70,000 people dedicated to collecting and protecting the nation’s most sensitive secrets.

Clinton, the former US Secretary of State, made her comments as Gabbard filed to run in the Democratic primary for the 2020 presidential election.

Referring to the alleged Russian interference, Clinton told former Barack Obama adviser David Plouffe: “I think they’re targeting someone who’s currently in the Democratic primary and grooming her to be the third candidate.” She is the favorite of the Russians.”

Clinton provided no evidence and did not explicitly mention Gabbard, although her identity was clear from the context. But the comments raised concerns about Gabbard’s positions on international affairs.

A military veteran who served in Iraq, she emerged as an outspoken critic of “belligerent” U.S. foreign policy, not only publicly opposing U.S. intervention in the Syrian war but also expressing skepticism about reported atrocities committed attributed to the forces of Syrian President Bashar Al. -Assad.

In 2017, she made a secret visit to Syria to meet Assad and told him: “Syria is not the enemy of the United States.”

Gabbard’s attacks on US foreign policy initially caught the eye of many on the left. She was a surrogate for Bernie Sanders, the progressive senator from Vermont, during his 2016 Democratic primaries and even gave his nomination speech at that year’s national party convention in Philadelphia.

Her own 2020 presidential campaign was marked by a surprise debate attack on fellow candidate Kamala Harris, whom she accused of sending marijuana users to prison when she was a prosecutor in California.

After ending her campaign, Gabbard endorsed Joe Biden — but her populist profile may have already brought her to Trump’s attention.

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Gabbard released a social media post that amplified Clinton’s concerns — and will likely be cited by intelligence insiders as they consider her future role.

“Dear Presidents Putin, Zelensky and Biden,” she said in a video on Twitter.

“It is time to put geopolitics aside and embrace the spirit of aloha, respect and love for the Ukrainian people by reaching an agreement that Ukraine will be a neutral country – i.e. no military alliance with NATO or Russia – and so…will alleviate legitimate security. concerns of both US/NATO countries and Russia, as there would be no Russian or NATO troops on each other’s borders (non-Baltic countries). This would allow the Ukrainian people to live in peace. Aloha.”

Later that year, Gabbard left the Democratic party to become an independent, saying the party was led by an “elitist cabal of warmongers” and “woke” ideologues.

She then campaigned for prominent Republicans, contributed to Fox News and started her own podcast — all moves seemingly tailor-made to put her in the orbit of Trump, whom she ultimately endorsed.

During the 2024 election campaign, she became established as one of the Republican candidate’s most popular celebrities. She was rewarded with a place on his transition team, along with fellow former Democrat Robert F Kennedy Jr.

Her status as a Trump intimate became clear when – thanks in part to her 2019 debate ambush of Harris – she helped prepare for his September presidential debate against the vice president in Philadelphia.

Now, with no intelligence experience or even a member of the House Intelligence Committee, she has been chosen to sit at the top of a pyramid, overseeing the CIA, the FBI and the National Security Agency, among others.

Some experts are skeptical about the influence of a position created in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks with the mission of coordinating multiple and disparate intelligence agencies, but which insiders say is actually less important than the role of the CIA director.

Still, listening to Trump could help Gabbard overcome this, given his stated determination to overhaul a national security apparatus that he believes is part of a “deep state” aimed at thwarting him.

“The CIA director is the 800-pound gorilla in the room,” an unnamed former senior Trump administration official told Politico. “But if someone understood the president and really wanted to make it an instrument of reform, he or she could have a lot of power.”