Chairman Mark Warner speaks during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing at the Capitol, March 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades)
Per Warner's office, the committee has yet to receive pre-hearing questions from Gabbard or an ethics disclosure. They also haven't gotten a copy of her FBI background check.
However, a spokesperson for Gabbard and the Trump transition team pushed back on this. According to the transition, the paperwork that was due on Dec. 18 was submitted, the FBI background check has been done, and an additional round of paperwork is due on Thursday and will be finished by then.
The FBI did not respond immediately to Fox News Digital's question about whether the background check had been provided to the Intel Committee.
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Ossoff met with Gabbard last month. (Tom Williams-Pool/Getty Images)
The only Democrat to bypass this supposed directive was Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., the transition team said. The two met last month at the Capitol.
Gabbard's team added that Sens. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., and Angus King, I-Maine, only responded after Warner's team finally confirmed their meeting.
Warner's office denied issuing any such directive to Democratic members. "That is flat-out untrue. Vice Chairman Warner has encouraged every senator on the Committee to meet with the nominee (as he has), carefully evaluate her experience, record and statements for themselves, and reach their own conclusions about whether she has the qualifications and background for this critical role," spokesperson Rachel Cohen told Fox News Digital in a statement.
The intel vice chairman met in person with Gabbard on Tuesday. "I had a session with Ms. Gabbard, I went in with a lot of questions. I've still got a lot of questions," Warner said afterward.
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Cotton is now Intel Committee chairman. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
"This is an extraordinarily serious job that requires maintaining the independence of the intelligence community. It also means maintaining the cooperation of our allies. We've got a lot of our intelligence from our allies on a sharing basis, and if those – that information is not kept secure, it raises huge concern. So I've got, you know, we've got a number of questions out for her. This is the beginning of a process."
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A spokesperson for the new Intel chairman, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., told Fox News Digital in a statement, "Chairman Cotton intends to hold these hearings before Inauguration Day. The Intelligence Committee, the nominees, and the transition are diligently working toward that goal."
A source familiar told Fox News Digital that the committee has yet to prompt Gabbard for her written responses to the advance policy questions, and emphasized that she can't respond to something not yet received.
Julia Johnson is a politics writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business, leading coverage of the U.S. Senate. She was previously a politics reporter at the Washington Examiner.
Follow Julia's reporting on X at @JuliaaJohnson_ and send tips to Julia.Johnson@fox.com.
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