washington (ap) – Nearly 100 former senior U.S. diplomats and intelligence and national security officials have urged Senate leaders to schedule closed-door hearings to allow for a full review of the government’s files on former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard , Donald Trump’s pick to be national intelligence director. The former officials, who served in both Democratic and Republican administrations, said they were “alarmed” by the choice of Gabbard to oversee all 18 U.S. intelligence agencies. They said her past actions “call into question her ability to deliver unbiased intelligence briefings to the President, Congress, and to the entire national security apparatus.” A spokesperson for Gabbard on the Trump transition team on Thursday denounced the appeal as an “unfounded” and “partisan” attack. Avril Haines, the current director of national intelligence, when asked Thursday whether intelligence sharing with allies could be in jeopardy under the next administration, cited the importance of those relationships and noted the strong bipartisan support for them in Congress. The question, at a Council on Foreign Relations talk, focused on the especially close intelligence sharing among the Five Eyes — the U.S., Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It did not mention Gabbard by name. “It is hard for me to believe that anybody coming in wouldn’t want to maintain those relationships,” Haines said. “So I wouldn’t think of them as being in significant risk,” she added. “I certainly hope that will continue.” Among those who signed the letter to Senate leaders were former Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, former NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller, former national security adviser Anthony Lake, and numerous retired ambassadors and high-ranking military officers. They wrote to current Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and incoming Republican Majority Leader John Thune on Wednesday to urge the closed briefings as part of the Senate’s review of Trump’s top appointments. They requested that Senate committees “consider in closed sessions all information available to the U.S. government when considering Ms. Gabbard’s qualifications to manage our country’s intelligence agencies, and more importantly, the protection of our intelligence sources and methods.” The letter singles out Gabbard’s 2017 meetings in Syria with President Bashar Assad, who is supported by Russian, Iranian and Iranian-allied forces in a now 13-year war against Syrian opposition forces seeking his overthrow. The U.S., which cut relations with Assad’s government and imposed sanctions over his conduct of the war, maintains about 900 troops in opposition-controlled northeast Syria, saying they are needed to block a resurgence of extremist groups. Gabbard, a Democratic member of Congress from Hawaii at the time of her Syria trip, drew heavy criticism for her meetings with a U.S. adversary and brutal leader. As the letter notes, her statements on the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine have aligned with Russian talking points , diverging from U.S. positions and policy. Gabbard throughout her political career has urged the U.S. to limit military engagement abroad other than combatting Islamic extremist groups. She has defended the Syria trip by saying it is necessary to engage with U.S. enemies. In postings on social media earlier this year she confirmed that the U.S. had for a time placed her “on a secret terror watch list” as a “potential domestic terror threat.” She blamed political retaliation. Neither she nor U.S. authorities have publicly detailed the circumstances involved. Alexa Henning, a spokesperson for Gabbard with the Trump team, called the letter sent to the Senate leaders “a perfect example” of why Trump chose Gabbard for this position. “These unfounded attacks are from the same geniuses who have blood on their hands from decades of faulty ‘intelligence,’” and use classified government information as a “partisan weapon to smear and imply things about their political enemy,” Henning said. A spokesperson for Thune did not immediately respond to questions about the request. —- Associated Press writer Didi Tang contributed.Pierpont Aviation program expansion stalls: $25M facility at North Central WV Airport in limbo
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K'Andre Miller suffered an upper-body injury Wednesday night as a result of a hit from the Buffalo Sabres' Jordan Greenway. He'd leave the ice and not return after the second period of the game. Miller's status is up in the air, after suffering a brutal hit from the Buffalo Sabres' Jordan Greenway. Miller's loss will not help the New York Rangers' cause, as he is one of the key pieces on the blue line. Despite failing to produce up to expectations, he's continued to work on his play this season. Yet in 28 games, he's only produced six points (2G, 4A) with a -5 rating. His best season with the Rangers saw him score 43 points (9G, 34A) and play a solid two-way game in 2022-2023. After the game, Peter Laviolette would not offer any significant details on the injured defenseman. This is unfortunate as we don't have a timetable to return, or any idea of when he'd be evaluated. The root of this injury could have been caused by a hit from Jordan Greenway, although it's unclear if that play led to his exit. Miller is one of many Rangers stars this season who are in a slump, and similar to another Original Six team ( the Boston Bruins), fans aren't happy. The team is 15-12-1, and while the Rangers were able to put together a victory, will they have to rely on a call-up from the AHL to fill the gap Miller leaves? Adam Fox, Reilly Smith and Mika Zibanejad would all post goals Wednesday night in a surprising turn of events, for two players who have been cold all season. When Miller returns could we see a return to form? This article first appeared on NY Rangers Insider and was syndicated with permission.
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Cadence Design Breaks Out, But Pulled Down On Peer's Miss. Can It Rebound?OTTAWA — Defenceman Cole Hutson had five assists as United States opened its defence of its gold medal with a resounding 10-4 win over Germany on Thursday as the 2025 world junior hockey championship got underway. James Hagens had two goals and two assists while Gabe Perreault and Brodie Ziemer also scored twice for the Americans, who are considered among the favourites in Ottawa. Trevor Connelly, Brandon Svoboda, Carey Terrance and Cole Eiserman also scored for the Americans. Julius Sumpf, David Lewandowski, Lenny Boos and Timo Ruckdaschel scored for Germany. Trey Augustine made 18 saves for the U.S., while a busy Nico Pertuch stopped 46 shots. Germany next plays Finland on Friday, while the U.S. has a day off before facing Latvia on Saturday. Earlier, defenceman Axel Sandin Pellikka scored a natural hat trick as Sweden kicked off the tournament with a 5-2 rout of Slovakia. Sandin Pellikka, a Detroit Red Wings prospect playing in hist third world juniors, added an assist for Sweden, which is looking for its first title since 2012. Rasmus Bergqvist and Linus Eriksson had the other goals for Sweden. Dalibor Dvorsky had a goal just under 12 minutes into the game to open the scoring for Slovakia, which was then held without a goal until Daniel Jencko scored on a power play with 85 seconds left in regulation. Sweden plays Kazakhstan and Slovakia meets Switzerland on Friday. In other games Thursday, Czechia played Switzerland and host Canada took on Finland. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 26, 2024. The Canadian PressMichael Vick discusses Lamar Jackson breaking his rushing record: ‘It comes down to vision’