自战争开始以来，国家情报总监塔尔西·加巴德(Tulsi Gabbard)周三首次面临尖锐的问题，即伊朗是否像唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)总统所说的那样，对美国构成“迫在眉睫的威胁”。
议员们向加巴德、中央情报局局长约翰·拉特克利夫、美国联邦调查局局长卡什·帕特尔和其他国家安全官员施压，要求他们就冲突和其他全球问题，就情报界在国会山对这种全球威胁的年度评估做出回应。
加巴德还被问及今年1月美国联邦调查局突袭佐治亚州一个选举中心时的表现。
听证会是在乔·肯特的辞职特朗普政府的最高反恐官员因反对战争而辞职，辩称伊朗没有“迫在眉睫的威胁”。
加巴德说，只有特朗普才能在有争议的交流中确定“迫在眉睫的威胁”
民主党参议员乔恩·奥索夫尖锐地质疑加巴德关于情报界对伊朗核能力的评估。
特朗普总统此前表示，伊朗的核计划在去年夏天被美国的打击“抹杀”。然而，在当前战争的几个理由中，白宫称德黑兰构成了迫在眉睫的核威胁。
“情报部门是不是认为伊朗政权构成了迫在眉睫的核威胁?是还是不是?”奥索夫问加巴德。
“参议员，唯一能决定什么是、什么不是迫在眉睫的威胁的人是总统，”加巴德说。
奥索夫予以回击，指责加巴德没有直接回答，因为她的回答会与白宫的声明相矛盾。
“确定什么构成对美国的威胁正是你的责任。这是全球威胁听证会，正如你在开场证词中提到的，你代表了[情报界]对威胁的评估。你在这里代表国际情报委员会对威胁的评估，”奥索夫说。
加巴德在中央情报局的对手拉特克利夫确实表示，当美国攻击伊朗时，伊朗构成了“直接威胁”，概述了他评估伊朗正在采取的一系列挑衅行动，包括在与美国进行的谈判中建立导弹
加巴德:伊朗没有“努力”重建核浓缩项目
加巴德还反驳了总统关于伊朗正在重启核武器计划的说法。
特朗普在发动战争前几天的国情咨文演讲中说:“他们被警告今后不要试图重建他们的武器计划，特别是核武器。”“然而他们继续，他们从头再来。”
但加巴德周三在她的书面证词中告诉国会，伊朗实际上“没有努力”重建其核浓缩计划。
“这就是情报界的评估?”参议员奥索夫问道。
“是的，”加巴德回答道。
拉特克利夫表示，该政权停止了核材料的浓缩。他告诉参议员，由于去年夏天的袭击，德黑兰“不愿意也没有能力”将铀浓缩到60%。
国防情报局局长詹姆斯·亚当斯中将在公开听证会上不愿讨论仍在伊朗的核材料，这些材料可能埋在美国袭击的地点之下。当被问及美国是否会在地面部署靴子以保护这些材料时，他承诺将在一次机密听证会上与参议员“非常[详细]”地讨论这个问题。
加巴德说，伊朗政权似乎“完好无损”，但“在很大程度上退化了”
在她的开场白中，加巴德提供了情报界对伊朗的最新评估。
加巴德重申了国防情报局的长期评估，即伊朗可以在2035年前制造出可以打到美国的导弹。这一发现被奥巴马政府作为在伊朗采取军事行动的理由。
关于该国目前的领导层，加巴德说，该政权“似乎完好无损，但在很大程度上因袭击而退化。”
“它的常规军事力量投射能力已基本被摧毁，剩下的选择有限。伊朗的战略地位已经大大降低，”她说。
她还警告说，随着“经济恶化”，伊朗内部“内部紧张局势可能会加剧”
加巴德说:“如果一个敌对政权幸存下来，它可能会寻求开始为期一年的努力，重建其军事、导弹和无人机力量。”。
官员们加紧规划霍尔木兹海峡，加巴德回避
关于她是否向总统简要介绍了伊朗可能做出的反应，加巴德回避了这个问题，伊朗对美国在该地区的合作伙伴进行了打击，并关闭了关键的霍尔木兹海峡，这一点现在已经得到了证实。
缅因州的独立参议员安格斯·金(Angus King)被问及这一应急措施是否“传达给了总统”，加巴德只说美国军方在袭击前采取了“先发制人的规划”措施。
她后来承认,“国际社会长期以来一直认为伊朗可能会将霍尔木兹海峡作为筹码”
“你有没有告诉总统，如果他发动一场可选择的战争，可能的结果是伊朗会打击邻近的海湾国家，并关闭霍尔木兹海峡?”参议院情报委员会(Senate Intelligence Committee)最高民主党人马克·华纳(Mark Warner)一度问加巴德。
“我没有也不会泄露内部对话，”加巴德回答道。
加巴德面临富尔顿县选举突袭的问题
加巴德和参议员华纳就她出席在美国联邦调查局对选举中心的突袭在今年早些时候，佐治亚州富尔顿县的特工查获了与2020年选举有关的选举材料。
华纳要求加巴德解释她参与此事的“权限”。
“我没有参与执法活动，也不会参与，因为在我的职权范围内不存在这种活动，”加巴德作证说。
“我在富尔顿县，先生，在总统的要求下，并与美国联邦调查局观察这一行动期待已久。我不知道搜查令里有什么，”加巴德补充道。
特朗普此前表示，加巴德在司法部长帕姆·邦迪的指导下在佐治亚州。
华纳在他的开场陈述中说加巴德出现在突袭中”暗示了应该让每个美国人感到震惊的事情:有组织地努力滥用她的国家安全权力来干涉国内政治……并为总统违宪的努力提供借口掌控即将到来的选举。"
加巴德提供了当天在富尔顿县的更多细节，包括现在广为流传的照片，照片显示她站在一辆她称之为空卡车上，接受参议员奥索夫的质询。
加巴德拒绝透露特朗普总统是如何亲自传达他要求她在场的请求的，只说“信息已经传达”，而且这是“总统政府的请求，要求去帮助监督这项逮捕令的执行。”
她后来辩称，她的存在属于她的法定责任，她说，“根据国会通过的法令，我的职责是监督选举安全，包括反情报。”
加巴德还提到了她在手术期间打电话的画面，称这是她在她所谓的“一辆空卡车”里拍摄的照片。
Gabbard avoids answering whether Iran posed an 'imminent threat'
For the first time since the start of the war, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard faced pointed questions Wednesday on whether Iran posed an "imminent threat" to the U.S. as President Donald Trump has maintained.
Lawmakers pressed Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, FBI Director Kash Patel and other national security officials on the conflict, and other global matters, on the intelligence community's annual assessment of such worldwide threats on Capitol Hill.
Gabbard was also questioned on her presence at an FBI raid of an election center in Georgia in January.
The hearing came one day after theresignation of Joe Kent, the Trump administration's top counterterrorism official, who stepped down over his objections to the war, arguing there was no "imminent threat" from Iran.
Gabbard says only Trump can determine an 'imminent threat' in contentious exchange
Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff pointedly questioned Gabbard about the intelligence community's assessment on Iran's nuclear capabilities.
President Trump previously said Iran's nuclear program was "obliterated" by U.S. strikes last summer. Among its several justifications for the current war, however, the White House said Tehran posed an imminent nuclear threat.
"Was it the assessment of the intelligence community that there was an imminent nuclear threat posed by the Iranian regime? Yes or no?" Ossoff asked Gabbard.
"Senator, the only person who can determine what is and is not an imminent threat is the president," Gabbard said.
Ossoff pushed back, accusing Gabbard of not answering directly because her response would contradict a statement from the White House.
"It is precisely your responsibility to determine what constitutes a threat to the United States. This is the worldwide threats hearing, where, as you noted in your opening testimony, you represent the [intelligence community's] assessment of threats. You are here to represent the IC's assessment of threats," Ossoff said.
Gabbard's counterpart at the CIA, Ratcliffe, did say 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: Iran made 'no efforts' to rebuild nuclear enrichment program
Gabbard also contradicted the president's claim that Iran was restarting its nuclear weapons program.
"They were warned to make no future attempts to rebuild their weapons program and in particular nuclear weapons," Trump said during his State of the Union speech days before launching the war. "Yet they continue, they’re starting it all over."
But Gabbard told Congress on Wednesday in her written testimony that Iran has actually made "no efforts" to rebuild its nuclear enrichment program.
"That's the assessment of the intelligence community?" Sen. Ossoff asked.
"Yes," Gabbard replied.
Ratcliffe said the regime halted enrichment of its nuclear material. Tehran has "been unwilling and incapable of enriching uranium to 60% as a result of" last summer's strikes, he told senators.
Lt. General James Adams, the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, would not discuss the nuclear material still in Iran -- likely buried under sites the U.S. struck -- in a public hearing. Asked whether the U.S. would deploy boots on the ground to secure the material, he promised to discuss the issue in "great [detail]" with senators in a classified hearing.
Gabbard says Iranian regime appears 'intact' but 'largely degraded'
In her opening statement, Gabbard provided the latest intelligence community assessment on Iran.
Gabbard had repeated a longstanding Defense Intelligence Agency assessment that Iran could build a missile that could reach the United States before 2035. That finding was cited by the administration as a justification for its military action in Iran.
On the country's current leadership, Gabbard said the regime "appears to be intact, but largely degraded due to attacks."
"Its conventional military power projection capabilities have largely been destroyed, leaving limited options. Iran's strategic position has been significantly degraded," she said.
She also warned that while "internal tensions are likely to increase" inside Iran as its "economy worsens."
"If a hostile regime survives, it will likely seek to begin a yearslong effort to rebuild its military, missiles and UAV [Unmanned Aerial Vehicle] force," Gabbard said.
Officials pressed on planning for Strait of Hormuz, Gabbard sidesteps
Gabbard sidestepped questions on whether she briefed the president on a probable response from Iran -- which has now been borne out with Iranian strikes against U.S. partners in the region and a closure of the critical Strait of Hormuz.
Asked by Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine, whether that contingency was "communicated to the president," Gabbard would only say that the U.S. military took "preemptive planning" measures ahead of its attack.
She later acknowledged that it’s "long been an assessment of the IC that Iran would likely hold the Strait of Hormuz as leverage."
"Did you brief the president, if he starts a war of choice, that the likely result would be that Iran would strike adjacent Gulf nations and close the Strait of Hormuz?" Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, asked Gabbard at one point.
"I have not and won't divulge internal conversations," Gabbard replied.
Gabbard faces questions on Fulton County election raid
Gabbard and Sen. Warner sparred over her presence at theFBI raid of an election centerinFulton County, Georgia, earlier this year, where agents seized election materials tied to the 2020 election.
Warner asked Gabbard to explain her "authority" to be involved in the matter.
"I did not participate in a law enforcement activity, nor would I, because that does not exist within my authorities," Gabbard testified.
"I was atFultonCounty, sir, at the request of the president and to work with the FBI to observe this action that had long been awaited. I was not aware of what was in the warrant," Gabbard added.
Trump previously said Gabbard was in Georgia at the direction of Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Warner said in his opening statement that Gabbard’s appearance at the raid"suggests something that should alarm every American: an organized effort to misuse her national security powers to interfere in domestic politics … and provide a pretext for the president’s unconstitutional efforts toseize control of the upcoming elections."
Gabbard provided additional details about the day in Fulton County, including the now-viral photo showing her standing on what she described as an empty truck while being questioned by Sen. Ossoff.
Gabbard declined to say how President Trump personally communicated his request that she be there, saying only that “the message was delivered” and that it was "a request from the president’s administration to go and help oversee this warrant being executed."
She later argued that her presence fell within her statutory responsibilities, saying, "It is my role, based on statute that Congress has passed, to have oversight over election security, to include counterintelligence."
Gabbard also addressed the image of her speaking on the phone during the operation, describing it as a photo taken while she was inside what she called "an empty truck."
