Trump top spy pick faces fresh scrutiny over Syria visit and Russia comments

She drew further attention during Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, when she made statements seen by some as echoing Putin's justifications for the war.

Gabbard said that the war could have been avoided if the Biden administration and the Nato military alliance "had simply acknowledged Russia’s legitimate security concerns" about Ukraine eventually becoming a member.

Weeks later, she released a video commenting that US-funded biolabs in Ukraine could be breached and "release and spread deadly pathogens". It came as Russia, defending its invasion, spread unevidenced claims that the US was helping Ukraine to develop biological weapons.

In response, Republican Senator Mitt Romney posted on social media that Gabbard was "parroting false Russian propaganda" and spreading "treasonous lies". Gabbard sent a cease-and-desist letter to Romney over his remarks.

And during the 2024 presidential campaign, Gabbard alleged that Vice-President Kamala Harris was the "main instigator" of the conflict in Ukraine for having supported Kyiv's Nato aspirations.

Nikki Haley, Trump's UN ambassador during his first term and a politician who challenged him for the Republican nomination in the 2024 election, said recently that Gabbard could not be entrusted with such a high-level intelligence role.

“This is not a place for a Russian, Iranian, Syrian, Chinese sympathiser,” Haley said.

North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher makes sense of US politics in his twice weekly US Election Unspun newsletter. Readers in the UK can sign up here. Those outside the UK can sign up here.