Jon Ossoff Grills Tulsi Gabbard On Whether Iran Posed Imminent Threat

Democratic Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff pressed Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard at a hearing Wednesday on whether Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States.

In a Tuesday X post announcing his resignation, Director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) Joe Kent said that Iran did not pose an imminent threat to America that would justify Operation Epic Fury. At Wednesday’s Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, Gabbard stated that President Donald Trump is the sole individual empowered to make such a determination.

WATCH:

“Was it the assessment of the Intelligence Community that there was a, quote, imminent nuclear threat posed by the Iranian regime?” Ossoff asked. “Yes or no?”

“Senator, the only person who can determine what is and is not an imminent threat is the president,” Gabbard said. “And he made that determination.”

Ossoff interrupted Gabbard, calling her assertion “false.”

“This is the worldwide threats hearing where you present to Congress national intelligence, timely, objective, and independent of political considerations,” he said. “You’ve stated today that the Intelligence Community’s assessment is that Iran’s nuclear enrichment program was obliterated, and that, quote, there had been no efforts since then, to try to rebuild their enrichment capability. Was it the Intelligence Community’s assessment that nevertheless, despite this obliteration, there was a, quote, imminent nuclear threat posed by the Iranian regime?”