WATCH: ‘You’re evading a question,’ Sen. Ossoff tells Gabbard about her intelligence role

Video Description

Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., questioned Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on Wednesday about her role and her presence in Fulton County, Ga., during an FBI raid earlier this year. At the start of his question period, Ossoff criticized President Donald Trump for inviting his political donors to "claim your spot" and "receive private national security briefings." The message included a photo of the president at a dignified transfer ceremony with a flag-draped coffin pictured. "The American people need to know that the president of the United States is fundraising for his political campaign and his PAC using images of American service members killed in action, and it's a disgrace," Ossoff said. He later asked Gabbard if U.S. intelligence agencies assessed that Iran posed a "imminent nuclear threat." Gabbard said that "the only person who can determine what is and is not an imminent threat is the president," a response that Ossoff called "false." "It is precisely your responsibility to determine what constitutes a threat to the United States," the senator said. He later added that Gabbard's role is to provide intelligence that is "timely, objective and independent of political considerations." Ossoff also asked about Gabbard's presence earlier this year at the FBI's raid of an elections office in Georgia's most populous county. The raid, which included the seizure of more than 700 boxes of ballots, was part of a probe into “deficiencies” during the 2020 election, according to an unsealed affidavit from an FBI agent. Joe Biden's victory in Georgia helped propel him to the presidency over Trump in 2020. Top U.S. intelligence officials were testifying Wednesday before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence at an open hearing on worldwide threats. It's the first of two days of hearings on Capitol Hill surrounding the intelligence community's release of its annual assessment of threats to national security. The Senate hearing comes a day after National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent resigned over President Donald Trump's war in Iran. Kent, a former Green Beret and CIA official known for his past ties to right-wing extremists, said in a statement Tuesday that Iran "posed no imminent threat" to the U.S. and he could not "in good conscience" support the war. Watch PBS News for daily, breaking and live news, plus special coverage. We are home to PBS News Hour, ranked the most credible and objective TV news show. Sign up for Here's The Deal with Lisa Desjardins: https://to.pbs.org/41q6E8i Subscribe for exclusive content in our newsletters: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/subscribe PBS News podcasts: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/podcasts Stream your PBS favorites with the PBS app: https://to.pbs.org/2Jb8twG Find more from PBS News at https://www.pbs.org/newshour Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2HfsCD6 Follow us: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pbsnews X: http://www.twitter.com/newshour Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/newshour Facebook: http://www.pbs.org/newshour