(NewsNation) — John Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. under George W. Bush and a former national security adviser in the first Trump administration, said President-elect Donald Trump’s intention to nominate former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and Rep. Matt Gaetz to his Cabinet shows Trump is not serious about intelligence gathering.
“With his (Trump) announcement of Tulsi Gabbard to be the director of national intelligence, he’s sending a signal that we’ve lost our mind when it comes to collecting intelligence,” Bolton told NewsNation’s “The Hill.”
But Bolton says Gabbard isn’t the worst pick Trump has made.
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“Up until a few hours ago, I would have said that (Gabbard) was the worst Cabinet appointment in recent American history. Since Matt Gaetz’s nomination (to be attorney general), he clearly has taken the lead on that score,” Bolton said.
Gaetz, who said Wednesday he is immediately resigning from Congress after being nominated to be attorney general, faced a yearslong Justice Department investigation into allegations of sex trafficking and obstruction of justice. Last year, the department said it would not bring charges.
Gaetz is still the subject of a House Ethics Committee investigation as well as a civil lawsuit involving allegations of a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl. Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing.
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“I don’t think either she (Gabbard) or Matt Gaetz ought to have a confirmation hearing until they have both had full-field FBI investigations,” said Bolton.
“Given the Russian propaganda that she (Gabbard) has espoused … I think she’s a serious threat to our national security. I think Republican senators should reject both of them.”