Senator John Cornyn of Texas, a Republican who holds a significant position on the Senate Intelligence Committee, reportedly made the announcement on Friday that he will cast his vote for Tulsi Gabbard, the candidate that President Trump has selected to serve as the director of national intelligence.
Cornyn, who earlier this week stated that he had “questions” about Gabbard’s standpoint on extended monitoring authorities under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence monitoring Act, stated in a statement that Trump had the “right” to choose his staff.
“Having won the election decisively, I believe President Trump has earned the right to appoint his own Cabinet, absent extraordinary circumstances. Therefore, it is my intention to consent to the appointment of Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence,” Cornyn remarked.
Cornyn’s comment was made in response to Gabbard’s statement.
The experienced senator did not appear to be very thrilled with Gabbard’s performance during her confirmation hearing on Thursday.
During the hearing, she repeatedly declined to call Edward Snowden, a former National Security Agency worker who is now a citizen of Russia, a “traitor.”
Cornyn stated to the reporters on Monday that he had questions about Gabbard, despite the fact that he had previously stated that he was likely to vote for Trump’s selections.
“I have questions. I think Sen. [Susan] Collins [R-Maine] and others have talked about Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which is very important. Sixty percent of the president’s daily brief comes from 702 intelligence so she’s now acknowledged the importance of it. I want to ask her a few questions about that,” he said.
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