Why the spy world is shocked by Trump's choice of Tulsi Gabbard as US intelligence chief

President-elect Donald Trump's latest choice of Tulsi Gabbard as US intelligence chief has sent shockwaves across the spy world. It has raised concerns within domestic and international intelligence spheres. 

Appointing Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman, who lacks deep intelligence experience, is seen as a highly political move. She is also considered to be soft on Russia and Syria. 

Gabbard's appointment indicates Trump's second-term approach, prioritising personal allegiance over traditional credentials. 

Amid accusations of being a ‘Russian asset’, she had left the Democratic Party in 2022. Gabbard was also highly criticised for her anti-interventionist. Later after her exit from the Democratic Party, she aligned with Trump and became a staunch supporter of his 'America First' doctrine. 

While Trump has made some conventional personnel decisions such as that of Senator Marco Rubio for secretary of state, Gabbard’s name surprised even some Republican insiders. 

After leaving Congress in 2021, she pivoted to conservative media and platforms, criticising what she called the Democratic Party's 'elitist cabal of warmongers'. 

She also spoke out against US military intervention in the civil war in Syria under former President Barack Obama and met in 2017 with Moscow-backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, with whom Washington severed all diplomatic ties in 2012.

Reportedly, a Western intelligence source warned of a potential 'slowdown in intelligence sharing' should Gabbard's pro-Russia inclinations shape US intelligence policy. 

Former national security adviser John Bolton, now Trump critic said, "I thought it was the worst cabinet-level appointment in history until we then heard about Matt Gaetz's appointment." 

Sir Richard Dearlove, former head of the UK's MI6, was quoted by the Telegraph saying, "a maverick move that defies intelligence orthodoxy."