Obama administration alum Jeh Johnson defended two of the people President-elect Donald Trump has chosen to serve in national security-related positions in his incoming administration: former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence and decorated U.S. Army veteran Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense.
While Johnson made it clear — during his Thursday appearance on CNN News Central — that he was not a fan of Trump’s choice for Attorney General, he was willing to give a little grace on some of the others. He even defended Gabbard and Hegseth, explaining why they could be solid choices for those specific roles in Trump’s new administration.
Host Sara Sidner raised the question regarding Gabbard first, repeating the preferred Democrat-media narrative that the former Democrat is somehow beholden to Russia.
“She has spread Russian propaganda. She has challenged the intelligence on whether President Assad used chemical weapons, which the intelligence said he had certainly done. And now she’s in this position to potentially head the high intelligence agency over all intelligence agencies. What does this mean? To you?” she asked.
“Well, I’m going to surprise you a little bit. I don’t think that it is an absolute prerequisite that the director of national intelligence be someone of the intelligence community. I also believe that on occasion, it’s a good thing to be skeptical of the intelligence that we’re provided. Those of us who are in a position of making serious decisions, policymakers,” Johnson replied.
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“So being skeptical of what the intelligence community produces can be a good thing. And I’m thinking of the intelligence leading up to the Iraq war, for example,” he added.
Sidner then pivoted to Hegseth — a 20-year veteran who received two Bronze Stars and deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay — whom she referred to as a “Fox anchor” and only mentioned briefly that he served in the National Guard.
“Let me ask you about another controversial pick, a Fox anchor, Pete Hegseth. He did serve in the Army National Guard, but now he is up for secretary of defense. And, you know, he said a few things. He has lobbied for people who are accused of war crimes in Afghanistan. He recently said that women do not belong in combat roles. But you have said that you’d give him the benefit of the doubt. Why?”
“I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt,” Johnson said. “Because here’s somebody who was well-educated, obviously intelligent, was in financial services, was in the Wall Street community for a while, could have made a lot of money and chose to leave that, put on the uniform of our country, and see combat. So I give him the benefit of the doubt for that reason.”
Johnson went on to say that both Gabbard and Hegseth would have to appear before the Senate for their confirmation hearings, and he said that he expected the Senate to do its job in vetting them thoroughly.
