Stacey Plaskett Asks Tulsi Gabbard Point Blank If Russia Is An Adversary To The United States

3/26/2025

At a House Intelligence Committee hearing on Wednesday, Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-VI) spoke about Russia.

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Transcript

00:00Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and good morning to the witnesses.

00:07First let me say that we do have to, in this committee, try as much as possible to remain

00:15nonpartisan as opposed to bipartisan.

00:18I can recall being that way when I was counsel on the House Ethics Committee, and it's a

00:22really hard position to take.

00:26And I'm really struck by the fact that in December of 2023, many people made Secretary

00:32Lloyd Austin go through the stages of the cross in self-flagellation and mea culpas

00:40for not informing the president that he was having a surgery.

00:45And now how we're treating Secretary Hedgepeth as if he is untouchable.

00:50Mike Waltz, when he was a member of Congress, went in the Committee on Armed Services to

00:56talk about it and slammed Austin for holding himself to a different standard than the American

01:01people.

01:03And yet we are not doing this across the board.

01:07And that's disappointing, at the very least.

01:11Very disappointing.

01:13Director Gaber, thank you for your testimony.

01:16And one of the things that I believe I heard you say was that when there was a discussion

01:21by DOJ as to the cuts to foreign aid, that there had not been a request for a national

01:29– for an intelligence and national security or an intelligence assessment of the impact

01:34of those cuts.

01:35Is that – was that your testimony a little earlier?

01:39Congresswoman, I have not seen any kind of actual official assessment, either within

01:45the intelligence community or outside of it, on what the effects of those cuts to

01:51U.S. AID programs has been.

01:53But it was not requested by DOJ of you or of any of the areas in which you have oversight

01:59over?

02:00I'm not aware of any requests.

02:01Okay, great.

02:03I know that there has been some open source reporting on what the effect of those cuts

02:07are.

02:08I mean, when we think about several examples, Kenya, our strongest regional ally in the

02:13Horn of Africa, and a key partner with us in the fight against terrorist group al-Shabaab.

02:19And according to the Washington Post – that's not definitive, and we can talk about this

02:24in closed session – some Kenyan journalists are now being trained by Beijing, mirroring

02:29the U.S. programs that have been cut by the administration.

02:33Director Gaber, is letting China-trained Kenyan journalists going to make Kenya more or less

02:38receptive to American requests of the Kenyan government, do you believe?

02:46As you said, Congresswoman, our relationship with Kenya has been very longstanding.

02:52So do cuts of ours to trained journalists in Kenya make them more or less – and Beijing

02:57having that – make them more or less receptive?

03:00Clearly there is strategic competition taking place.

03:02I'll withhold my personal view to look at an official assessment.

03:06Well, I was asking for your director view, not your personal view.

03:10And then additionally, we have ended Voice of America, which provided accurate, unbiased

03:16news in our opinion.

03:18Meanwhile, St. Petersburg University has announced that it's opened 11 Russian language centers

03:24across Africa that pay special attention to the promotion of traditional Russian spiritual

03:30and moral values.

03:32Director Gaber, is Russia a friend or a foe?

03:37Are they our friend or our adversary?

03:39They are an adversary.

03:42I believe that this reckless cuts make terrorism and our influence in Africa, which is on the

03:49front lines of terrorism, a real threat to us, and we need to be careful of it.

03:55Director Patel, one of the benefits of being here kind of in the middle is I get to hear

03:59other people's testimony and the questions that are asked.

04:03I know that Mr. Carson asked you questions specifically about the counterterrorism division,

04:10and we know that there has been some open source reporting that says that individuals

04:15within that division have been removed or been moved, not necessarily fired, but moved.

04:21Do you know if that is correct?

04:23I don't have any personal information on that, but people within the CTD component,

04:28which is a large component of the FBI, move all the time.

04:32And have they been moved?

04:33Are you able to get that information to us, whether they have or have not been moved?

04:37I'll go back to my team and see who has been moved.

04:39If you have a particular interest, we'll share it with you.

04:42Of course we have an interest in counterterrorism division and movement of individuals within

04:46that, because one of the other things I'm concerned about is you have stated, I believe,

04:54in other areas that the disbandment of certain sections of the FBI related to intel and breaking

05:01up components.

05:02Can you explain to us how you intend to do that or what you would like to do and why?

05:08My intention is to reprioritize counterintelligence authorities and cyber capabilities to focus

05:14on violent crime and national security, and that's what I'm doing.

05:18The gentleman's time has expired.

Stacey Plaskett Asks Tulsi Gabbard Point Blank If Russia Is An Adversary To The United States

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