Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on Thursday again dodged questions on whether Iran posed an "imminent threat" to the U.S., repeating her view that only President Donald Trump can make that determination.
Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, FBI Director Kash Patel and other national security officials sat for a second day of testimony on worldwide threats, this time before the House Intelligence Committee.
Gabbard notably said the U.S. and Israel's war goals differ, and acknowledged that the new supreme leader in Tehran is more hardline than his father, who was killed in an Israeli strike coordinated with the U.S.
The intelligence director also faced questions on her personal views on the conflict and her past comments on Iran, including last year when she said Iran was not building a nuclear weapon.
Gabbard on Thursday doubled down on her comments deferring to President Trump on what constitutes an "imminent threat" to the U.S.
In an exchange with Democratic Rep. Jimmy Gomez of California, Gabbard declined to answer if Iran was weeks away from achieving a nuclear weapon, as President Trump has maintained.
"The American people need to know if this was an imminent threat or not, if they are weeks away or not, if they are months away or not. None of this dodging. Were they an imminent threat? Yesterday, you said ... the only person who can determine what is an imminent threat is the president of the United States. Do you stand by that statement?" Gomez asked.
"Yes, I do," Gabbard said.
"If the president can determine and ignore what you're doing, why do you guys even have a job?" Gomez said.
On Wednesday, Gabbard provided the Senate Intelligence Committee with written testimony that stated Iran made "no efforts" to rebuild its nuclear enrichment program. Ratcliffe on Wednesday said Iran posed an "immediate threat" when the U.S. attacked Iran, outlining a series of provocative actions he assessed Iran to be taking, including a missile buildup during ongoing negotiations with the U.S.
Gabbard was asked if she disagreed or agreed with statements made in the resignation letter from Joe Kent, the Trump administration's top counterterrorism official who stepped down over his objections to the war. Kent claimed the Trump administration was pulled into the war by Israel and that there was no "imminent threat" to the U.S.
"He said a lot of things in that letter," Gabbard said during an exchange with Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York.
"Does that statement he made blaming Israel concern you?" Stefanik asked Gabbard.
"Yes," Gabbard said.
Ratcliffe was questioned by Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey if Israel forced the U.S.'s hand to take action against Iran.
"No," Ratcliffe said.
Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro of Texas pressed Gabbard about Israel's goals for the war and whether they are aligned with those of the U.S.
"The objectives that have been laid out by the president are different from the objectives that have been laid out by the Israeli government," Gabbard said.
She said the Israeli government is focused on disabling Iranian leadership, and that Trump's goals are to destroy Iran's navy and missile capabilities.
When asked what she attributes to Israel’s decision to strike Iran’s energy infrastructure despite President Trump calling it "off limits," Gabbard said, "I don't know the answer to that."
Gabbard told lawmakers that Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is more hardline than his slain father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
"So, hardline that even some of Iran's leaders thought he was too aggressive. Isn't that correct?" Democratic Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado asked Gabbard.
"That is the intelligence community assessment, yes," Gabbard said, also confirming Mojtaba is close to hardline commanders in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, and that he was involved in ordering the killing of Iranian protesters in recent waves of protest across the country.
Crow summarized by asking if "we're less certain of the positions of Iranian leadership and their intentions than we were 60 days ago."
"That's an accurate assessment," she replied.
Later in her testimony, Gabbard noted Mojtaba Khamenei was "injured very severely" in an Israeli strike, so the decision making in Iranian leadership is "unclear."
CIA Director Ratcliffe was later asked if the intelligence community briefed Trump on who would succeed Ali Khamenei if he was killed, and the likelihood that a hardliner would be the replacement. Ratcliffe said the president was briefed in the event the supreme leader was killed, but that regime change was not an objective of Operation Epic Fury.
Gabbard testified that the "intelligence community" has high confidence that we know where it is."
She said any conversation about securing that material should be reserved for a closed setting.
Asked whether the president was briefed on the "impact of a war on global supply change and the price of oil and gas,” Gabbard said she “believe[s] so, but I can't confirm so if he was briefed on those assessments."
Trump and other U.S. officials have said ensuring Iran never has a nuclear weapon is an objective of the operation. A looming question over the conflict is how far the U.S. will go to retrieve the nuclear material, which is believed to be buried under sites the U.S. struck last year.
The director was asked extensively about her past statements about war with Iran, as well as her current views on the existing war.
During her opening remarks in both the Senate and House hearings, she stated that her testimony "does not represent my personal views or opinions, but rather the assessments of the intelligence community of the threats that facing the United States our homeland and our interests."
Rep. Gomez pressed Gabbard on her remarks last year that Iran was not building a nuclear weapon -- and President Trump's public pushback at the time that Gabbard was "wrong."
"It's an easy answer. You either stand by what you said last year or not," Gomez said.
Gabbard said in the exchange that "context matters" and she "stand[s] by the intelligence community assessment."