Dozens of former intel officials urge senators to confirm Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence

EXCLUSIVE: Dozens of top former intelligence officials are urging members of the Senate to confirm President Donald Trump’s nominee for director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, saying she will "begin undoing the gross politicization that has come to characterize intelligence bureaucracies," Fox News Digital has learned. 

Former White House National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien, former Acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell, former Navy SEAL and member of the intelligence community Erik Prince and more than four dozen other former intelligence officials penned a letter to Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital. 

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"We, the undersigned former intelligence and national security officials, urge members of the United States Senate to confirm Tulsi Gabbard to serve as President Trump’s Director of National Intelligence," they wrote. "Her service as DNI will begin undoing the gross politicization that has come to characterize intelligence bureaucracies, which has been to the great detriment of the freedom and security of the United States and its citizens." 

Gabbard announced a change in her position on FISA's section 702.  (Getty Images)

The officials said Gabbard’s experience "experience more than qualifies her for this important position." 

Gabbard is a military officer with more than 20 years of service and undertook multiple combat deployments. She also served in the U.S. House of Representatives for eight years and served on numerous national security committees. 

The officials said Gabbard was "an outspoken champion for America’s warriors and for our cherished constitutional freedoms." 

"In both these roles, she experienced first-hand how intelligence, when used as intended, provides critical support to America’s military and political leaders," they wrote. "When intelligence was abused, Lt. Col. Gabbard spoke up and insisted on safeguards."

President Donald Trump dances as he leaves the stage after speaking alongside former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard during a town hall meeting in La Crosse, Wisc., on Aug. 29, 2024. (KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

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The officials said that "in contrast to the many former senior intelligence officials who politicized their profession and disgraced themselves by running misinformation operations to undermine the President of the United States—such as by signing the infamous Biden laptop ‘Russian disinformation’ letter or appearing on partisan programs to knowingly mislead the public with false claims of inside knowledge and access to classified information—Lt. Col. Gabbard stood up for truth, integrity, and following the facts." 

The officials said those are "precisely the values necessary for the leader of the intelligence community." 

"As former collectors, analysts, consumers, and enablers of intelligence, we support Lt. Col. Tulsi Gabbard to lead the IC," they wrote. "She has the integrity, and moral courage, to restore objectivity and professionalism to the nation’s intelligence agencies." 

National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien speaks during a turnover ceremony of defence articles at the Department of Foreign Affairs office in Manila on November 23, 2020.  (Eloisa Lopez/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

The letter comes as Gabbard has come under scrutiny from some senators who have been critical of her intelligence experience. 

But allies of Gabbard have defended her record, and said it is critical that someone with "fresh eyes" and "without bias" lead the intelligence community. They also have argued that Gabbard knows, firsthand, the consequences of inaccurate intelligence, given her service in the War on Terror. 

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"She has seen the true cost of war," a source close to Gabbard’s confirmation process told Fox News Digital. 

"It is a strength, not a weakness, that she doesn't have direct prior intel agency experience," the source continued. "She has been a consumer during her time deployed overseas--but not having direct agency background is a strength as she will come in with clear eyes and no bias to the intel community which needs to regain the trust of the American people and not be used as a political tool weaponized against them." 

Ric Grenell, former Acting Director of National Intelligence speaks on Day 3 of the Republican National Convention (RNC), at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S., July 17, 2024.  (REUTERS/Mike Segar)

Gabbard’s confirmation hearing with the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence is scheduled to take place Thursday morning. 

Trump has argued that Gabbard will bring a "fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community, championing our Constitutional Rights and securing Peace through Strength." 

The director of national intelligence leads the U.S. intelligence community, which includes overseeing the National Intelligence Program and advising the president on security matters. 

Gabbard has served as a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserves since 2021, after previously serving in the Hawaii Army National Guard for about 17 years. She was elected to the U.S. House representing Hawaii during the 2012 election cycle, serving as a Democrat until 2021. She did not seek re-election to that office after she entered the 2020 White House race. 

Gabbard left the Democratic Party in 2022, registering as an independent before becoming a member of the GOP in 2024 and offering her full endorsement of Trump amid his presidential campaign. 

Gabbard has received the support of dozens of national security officials, and in December received endorsements from more than 250 veterans, including high-profile names such as retired Gen. Michael Flynn and former acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller.

Brooke Singman is a political correspondent and reporter for Fox News Digital, Fox News Channel and FOX Business.