FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Republican senators pushed back on Sunday against criticism from Democrats that Tulsi Gabbard , Donald Trump's pick to lead U.S. intelligence services , is “compromised” by her comments supportive of Russia and secret meetings , as a congresswoman, with Syria’s president, a close ally of the Kremlin and Iran. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat and veteran of combat missions in Iraq, said she had concerns about Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's choice to be director of national intelligence . “I think she’s compromised," Duckworth said on CNN’s “State of the Union," citing Gabbard's 2017 trip to Syria, where she held talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad. Gabbard was a Democratic House member from Hawaii at the time. “The U.S. intelligence community has identified her as having troubling relationships with America’s foes. And so my worry is that she couldn’t pass a background check,” Duckworth said. Gabbard, who said last month she is joining the Republican Party, has served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades. She was deployed to Iraq and Kuwait and, according to the Hawaii National Guard, received a Combat Medical Badge in 2005 for “participation in combat operations under enemy hostile fire in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom III." Duckworth's comments drew immediate backlash from Republicans. “For her to say ridiculous and outright dangerous words like that is wrong," Sen. Markwayne Mullin, a Republican from Oklahoma, said on CNN, challenging Duckworth to retract her words. “That’s the most dangerous thing she could say — is that a United States lieutenant colonel in the United States Army is compromised and is an asset of Russia.” In recent days, other Democrats have accused Gabbard without evidence of being a “Russian asset.” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, has claimed, without offering details, that Gabbard is in Russian President Vladimir “Putin’s pocket.” Mullin and others say the criticism from Democrats is rooted in the fact that Gabbard left their party and has become a Trump ally. Democrats say they worry that Gabbard's selection as national intelligence chief endangers ties with allies and gives Russia a win. Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat just elected to the Senate, said he would not describe Gabbard as a Russian asset, but said she had “very questionable judgment.” “The problem is if our foreign allies don’t trust the head of our intelligence agencies, they’ll stop sharing information with us,” Schiff said on NBC's “Meet the Press.” Gabbard in 2022 endorsed one of Russia’s justifications for invading Ukraine : the existence of dozens of U.S.-funded biolabs working on some of the world’s nastiest pathogens. The labs are part of an international effort to control outbreaks and stop bioweapons, but Moscow claimed Ukraine was using them to create deadly bioweapons. Gabbard said she just voiced concerns about protecting the labs. Gabbard also has suggested that Russia had legitimate security concerns in deciding to invade Ukraine, given its desire to join NATO. Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri said he thought it was “totally ridiculous” that Gabbard was being cast as a Russian asset for having different political views. “It’s insulting. It’s a slur, quite frankly. There’s no evidence that she’s a asset of another country,” he said on NBC. Sen. James Lankford, another Oklahoma Republican, acknowledged having “lots of questions” for Gabbard as the Senate considers her nomination to lead the intelligence services. Lankford said on NBC that he wants to ask Gabbard about her meeting with Assad and some of her past comments about Russia. “We want to know what the purpose was and what the direction for that was. As a member of Congress, we want to get a chance to talk about past comments that she’s made and get them into full context,” Lankford said.A Grim Diagnosis

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CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) — Rafael Pinzon had 22 points in Bryant's 97-85 win over Tennessee State on Tuesday night. Read this article for free: Already have an account? To continue reading, please subscribe: * CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) — Rafael Pinzon had 22 points in Bryant's 97-85 win over Tennessee State on Tuesday night. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) — Rafael Pinzon had 22 points in Bryant’s 97-85 win over Tennessee State on Tuesday night. Pinzon shot 6 of 15 from the field, including 4 for 5 from 3-point range, and went 6 for 6 from the line for the Bulldogs (4-3). Connor Withers scored 17 points while going 6 of 14 from the floor, including 4 for 9 from 3-point range, and 1 for 4 from the line. Keyshawn Mitchell finished 7 of 10 from the field to finish with 16 points, while adding 13 rebounds. Brandon Weston led the way for the Tigers (3-5) with 24 points and six steals. Antoine Lorick III added 16 points, seven rebounds and two steals for Tennessee State. Carlous Williams had 16 points and two steals. ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar. AdvertisementThey were all exceptional – Mikel Arteta loved seeing Arsenal run riot in Lisbon

AP News Summary at 6:33 p.m. EST

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Republican senators pushed back on Sunday against criticism from Democrats that Tulsi Gabbard , Donald Trump's pick to lead U.S. intelligence services , is “compromised” by her comments supportive of Russia and secret meetings , as a congresswoman, with Syria’s president, a close ally of the Kremlin and Iran. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat and veteran of combat missions in Iraq, said she had concerns about Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's choice to be director of national intelligence . “I think she’s compromised," Duckworth said on CNN’s “State of the Union," citing Gabbard's 2017 trip to Syria, where she held talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad. Gabbard was a Democratic House member from Hawaii at the time. “The U.S. intelligence community has identified her as having troubling relationships with America’s foes. And so my worry is that she couldn’t pass a background check,” Duckworth said. Gabbard, who said last month she is joining the Republican Party, has served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades. She was deployed to Iraq and Kuwait and, according to the Hawaii National Guard, received a Combat Medical Badge in 2005 for “participation in combat operations under enemy hostile fire in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom III." Duckworth's comments drew immediate backlash from Republicans. “For her to say ridiculous and outright dangerous words like that is wrong," Sen. Markwayne Mullin, a Republican from Oklahoma, said on CNN, challenging Duckworth to retract her words. “That’s the most dangerous thing she could say — is that a United States lieutenant colonel in the United States Army is compromised and is an asset of Russia.” In recent days, other Democrats have accused Gabbard without evidence of being a “Russian asset.” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, has claimed, without offering details, that Gabbard is in Russian President Vladimir “Putin’s pocket.” Mullin and others say the criticism from Democrats is rooted in the fact that Gabbard left their party and has become a Trump ally. Democrats say they worry that Gabbard's selection as national intelligence chief endangers ties with allies and gives Russia a win. Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat just elected to the Senate, said he would not describe Gabbard as a Russian asset, but said she had “very questionable judgment.” “The problem is if our foreign allies don’t trust the head of our intelligence agencies, they’ll stop sharing information with us,” Schiff said on NBC's “Meet the Press.” Gabbard in 2022 endorsed one of Russia’s justifications for invading Ukraine : the existence of dozens of U.S.-funded biolabs working on some of the world’s nastiest pathogens. The labs are part of an international effort to control outbreaks and stop bioweapons, but Moscow claimed Ukraine was using them to create deadly bioweapons. Gabbard said she just voiced concerns about protecting the labs. Gabbard also has suggested that Russia had legitimate security concerns in deciding to invade Ukraine, given its desire to join NATO. Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri said he thought it was “totally ridiculous” that Gabbard was being cast as a Russian asset for having different political views. “It’s insulting. It’s a slur, quite frankly. There’s no evidence that she’s a asset of another country,” he said on NBC. Sen. James Lankford, another Oklahoma Republican, acknowledged having “lots of questions” for Gabbard as the Senate considers her nomination to lead the intelligence services. Lankford said on NBC that he wants to ask Gabbard about her meeting with Assad and some of her past comments about Russia. “We want to know what the purpose was and what the direction for that was. As a member of Congress, we want to get a chance to talk about past comments that she’s made and get them into full context,” Lankford said.

Lidia Thorpe and Ralph Babet (Image: AAP/Private Media) Racism and reverse racism. Misogyny and misandry. Homophobia and heterophobia. I have heard a lot of false equivalences touted in my time, yet none quite as stark as the false equivalency the federal government managed to manufacture earlier this week when they decided to censure both Senator Lidia Thorpe and Senator Ralph Babet concurrently for transgressions they claimed warranted such action. In the case of Thorpe, the censure was in relation to her infamous protest at a reception for King Charles III — an action which, while loud and confronting, was based in truth-telling with regards to both Indigenous sovereignty and the harm that had been committed in the name of the Crown. In the case of Babet, it was due to a tweet in which he used racist, homophobic and ableist slurs in order to dare “woke ass freaks” to come at him. In no way are these actions of equivalence. Lidia Thorpe sees her Senate spot as the Greens ‘paying the rent’ Read More Yet when Senator Penny Wong took to the microphone to introduce the censure motions, drawing that false equivalence was exactly what she did. Wong claimed both motions were about the “standards of respect” expected of senators, and that both wayward senators were engaging in actions to create social media storms while offering nothing of substance to improve people’s lives. While this may have been the case with Babet’s disgusting tweet, perhaps if Wong had stopped and actually considered the substance contained within Thorpe’s protest words, she may have realised that improving the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples while educating the masses on some realities is exactly why she took that action. Disappointingly, but predictably, the champions of “free speech” that are the federal opposition appeared to forget this very core value, with the majority of them supporting both censure motions, and Senator Birmingham parroting Wong’s sentiments. To his credit, Queensland Nationals Senator Matt Canavan was the lone Coalition voice to question the motions and he voted against them — not on the content, but rather on the basis of process. Due to flight delays, neither Thorpe nor Babet were able to be present to hear the motions and defend themselves should they have wished to. They had only been informed that morning they were being censured. The timing of the vote was not the only problem of process. As Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi rose to express her dissent in relation to the censure against Thorpe, she was repeatedly shut down by Senate President Sue Lines. Why? Because she dared to highlight the racism inherent in the chamber, while pointing out that it did not have the right to dictate to an Aboriginal woman, or indeed any other people of colour, how they should engage in protest. It was a fair point. Not only did Faruqi remind the chamber of the fact it had failed to censure Pauline Hanson for a racist tweet aimed at her, she also highlighted that this same tweet was later deemed to be racial vilification via court proceedings. What does Wong actually know about the art of protest? She’s not one to make a stand, even if it means she ends up voting against marriage equality despite being a lesbian woman who wished to marry her partner, and she certainly had no qualms in highlighting her compliance to the party line when, earlier this year, Senator Fatima Payman made a stance of unconditional support for the recognition of a Palestinian state while a genocide has been going on. Is this lack of discernment, and reinforcement of ignorance, just a given when it comes to accepting the modus operandi of our elected politicians? Will Senator Ralph Babet see censure for his slur-ridden posting? Read More What message are the four Indigenous senators who fell in lockstep with their party’s stance sending, not only to the many Indigenous people disenfranchised in this country who are looking for politicians to champion our issues, but also to the broader Australian public? First, that talking truth to power when it’s right there in front of you is unacceptable and warrants punishment, even though in the case of the federal government, they did commit to “truth-telling” when they promised to implement the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full. Secondly, despite successive governments’ failures to listen to our more polite forms of protest such as petitions, consultative bodies, now-forgotten referendums and peaceful assemblies in parks, these tactics are the only ones we should be utilising. It’s more sinister than this though. Because truly, via their choice to censure Thorpe and Babet concurrently, while neither of them were there, they are stating there is no difference between an Aboriginal woman skilfully highlighting decades of injustice in the space of a mere minute in a House that was initially built to specifically exclude us, and a man using a bunch of disgusting and outdated slurs on a social media platform to rile progressives for fun. And so here we are, in the wake of the shambolic referendum process, finding the very issues Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples continue to take to the streets for comparable to a disgusting and deliberately inflammatory tweet. Have something to say about this article? Write to us at letters@crikey.com.au . Please include your full name to be considered for publication in Crikey’s Your Say . We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity.

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