Former Obama DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson defended the president-elect that of Donald Trump applications from Tulsi Gabbard And Pete Hegseth for key national security roles.

Trump is making news this week with cabinet choices that are sparking outrage. The selection of the former congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL) will be Trump’s attorney general was met with quasi-universal shock Wednesday.

This selection comes as Trump chose Fox News host Pete Hegseth head the Ministry of Defense and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) as its nominee for director of national intelligence.

Thursday edition of CNN News CentralJohnson ripped the Gaetz pick as an absurd choice that he initially believed to be “a Russian hoax.”

But he defended Gabbard’s choice by arguing that “skepticism” can be healthy in a DNI, and said he would give Trump “the benefit of the doubt” on Hegseth’s nomination. praising the Fox News host as “well-educated, obviously intelligent”:

SARA SIDNER: Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence, which means she oversees all the intelligence agencies, I think there are 18 of them.

She spread Russian propaganda. She disputed intelligence on whether President Assad had used chemical weapons, which intelligence said he certainly had. And now she’s in this position to potentially lead the top intelligence agency above all intelligence agencies. What does that mean? For you?

SECOND. JEH JOHNSON: Well, I’m going to surprise you a little bit. I don’t think it’s an absolute prerequisite that the director of national intelligence be someone from the intelligence community.

I also believe that sometimes it is a good thing to be skeptical of the information that is provided to us. Those of us who are in a position to make serious decisions, the policy makers.

I received information that I was skeptical of and asked difficult questions. I asked to speak directly to the stakeholders who wrote the report.

Being skeptical of what the intelligence community produces can therefore be a good thing. And I think, for example, of the intelligence services which led to the war in Iraq.

But again, I believe the Senate has a constitutional obligation to give its advice and consent to this nomination and to carefully consider it.

SARA SIDNER: Let me ask you about another controversial choice, a Fox anchor, Pete Hegseth. He served in the Army National Guard, but is now a candidate for Secretary of Defense. And, you know, he said a few things.

He lobbied for those accused of war crimes in Afghanistan. He recently said women don’t believe they have a place in combat roles. But you said you’d give him the benefit of the doubt. For what?

SECOND. JEH JOHNSON: I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. Keep going, keep going, keep going. On at least the nomination at this point.

Because here was someone who was well educated, obviously intelligent, who worked in financial services, who worked in the Wall Street community for a while, who could have made a lot of money and chose to leave that put on the uniform of our country and see the fight.

This is why I give him the benefit of the doubt. With all due respect, being a cable news host does not necessarily qualify you to become Secretary of Defense.

SARA SIDNER: It’s definitely not the case.

SECOND. JEH JOHNSON: And so, again, this is an appointment where the Senate has a duty to scrutinize the things that he has said, the positions that he has taken, the positions that he has taken against those found responsible for war crimes. .

You know, one of the reasons why our United States military, and I have worked alongside the United States military at the Pentagon for years, one of the reasons why it is the largest and most powerful in the world is not just because of our raw power, but because of the military’s dedication to the rule of law, dedication to following the rules.

Watch above via CNN News Central.

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