Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) on Friday raised alarms about former President Donald Trump’s efforts to forgo FBI background checks for his cabinet picks.
Appearing on CNN, Spanberger was asked by host John Berman about reports that Trump’s transition team is skipping over the FBI and has hired a private firm to conduct background checks on highly controversial nominees such as Matt Gaetz, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and Tulsi Gabbard.
“This is an alarming step that, frankly, should alarm every American citizen who wants the basic function of government to work, who wants to ensure that the FBI, as you were reporting earlier, is able to investigate terrorist threats,” she said. “The fact that they would avoid a traditional background check process to me means they know they can’t pass it, and what it means is that information that would be available to the FBI just won’t even be considered.”
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Gabbard in the past has raised eyebrows for parroting Kremlin talking points about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and many critics have cited her as someone who is particularly unfit to serve as the United States’ director of national intelligence.
However, Berman pointed out to Spanberger that people like Gabbard and Kennedy on the campaign trail with Trump and then asked her if she believed that this wasn’t what Americans had voted for.
“It’s interesting because people continue to be surprised,” she replied. “And I will say these nominations, they are shocking, absolutely, because the individuals you mentioned are wholly unfit to lead the vast organizations that do things like protect the American public from the next global pandemic.”
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