Tulsi Gabbard to downsize national intelligence office, adding to broader offensive

[struggle4progress]

5. Gabbard on Russia and Ukraine

July 10, 2025
Simon Saradzhyan, Angelina Flood

... she was accused of failing to immediately denounce the launch of Russia’s full-blown invasion into Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022 and of repeating Russia’s arguments for this invasion. Weeks before the invasion, Gabbard claimed “Biden can very easily prevent a war with Russia by guaranteeing that Ukraine will not become a member of NATO.” That same year Gabbard also took heat for claiming that she was "deeply concerned" over claims about biological weapons in Ukraine, endorsing Russian claims that the U.S. and Ukraine were involved in dangerous biological research before the war. She has also repeatedly claimed that Ukraine is not a democracy.

For these and other opinions, she has been described by some of her political rivals and some of the U.S. media as: a “darling of Russia's state media," the "favorite of Russia’s state media," "parroting false Russian propaganda," a "Russia apologist," a "Russian asset," "the favorite of the Russians" and "treasonous.” Unfazed, Gabbard pursued her political career, occasionally firing back with counteroffensives like a defamation lawsuit against Hillary Clinton in 2020 that alleged the former secretary of state and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee "lied" about the Hawaii congresswoman's ties to Russia during a 2019 interview (she later dropped that suit). She also refused to be pressed into a full reversal of her position on Edward Snowden ...

https://www.russiamatters.org/analysis/tulsi-gabbard-russia-and-ukraine