Tulsi Gabbard - a former Democratic congresswoman who joined the Republican Party to back Donald Trump - is the president-elect's pick for director of national intelligence. The wide-ranging role would mean she oversees US intelligence agencies like the CIA, FBI and the National Security Agency (NSA), which focuses on intelligence gathering.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz said that Tulsi Gabbard, Donald Trump’s controversial pick for director of national intelligence, “is likely a Russian asset.” Asked in a Friday MSNBC appearance about Gabbard’s prospective nomination to a position that would come with extensive access to classified information,

The meetings with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad hung over Gabbard, Trump’s choice for director of national intelligence, as she ran for president in 2020.