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Tulsi Gabbard appoints Trump ally Nicholas Kass in key intelligence role amid allegations of left-wing bias
US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has appointed a long-time supporter of President Donald Trump as the acting chair of the National Intelligence Council (NIC) amid recent controversies over alleged bias in intelligence assessment.
Both Democrats and Republicans have levelled charges of politicisation at the assessment group over the past months. Now, by appointing Nicholas Kass in the role, Gabbard aims to seek greater control of the analytic hub.
Recent friction with Trump
US DNI came under criticism from Trump earlier this month over her testimony in Congress when she said 'the intelligence community [IC] continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon, and Supreme Leader [Ali] Khamenei has not authorised the nuclear weapons program that he suspended in 2003.'
On the flip side, the Trump administration backed Israel's war against Iran, and even joined it in bombing three nuclear facilities in the Shi'ite nation based on intelligence that Iran was close to building a nuclear bomb.
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When Trump was asked about the inconsistency in the US intelligence assessment, Trump declared her DNI was 'wrong' in her assessment.
'I don't care what she said, I think they were very close to having one,' Trump said.
Trump' stance was bolstered by a May 31 International Atomic Energy Agency report that stated Iran had accumulated roughly 120 kg of uranium enriched to 60 per cent, dangerously close to weapons-grade levels of 90 per cent. This finding further undermined DNI's previous assessments.
'Left-wing bias in intelligence community'
Officials in the Trump administration and even Republicans argue that the US intelligence community is flooded with left-wing bias.
Last month, Gabbard even fired top two officials at the NIC shortly after it produced a classified assessment that appeared to undercut a key pillar of Trump's hardline immigration policy. The move sparked strong criticism from Democrats.
Now, Nicholas Kass's entry into the NIC will hopefully bring two key changes for the Republicans: Significant experience in the intelligence community and a direct challenge to the status-quo.
Kass has penned several opinion pieces and social media posts sharply criticising Democrats while passionately praising Trump.
In a pinned November 2024 X post, he hailed Trump's 'epic' 2024 election win as 'a thorough public repudiation of the Deep State and its authoritarianism, operations, puppets and supporters, and ideological pretensions and other emanations.'
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