Joe Biden’s nominee to lead US intelligence Avril Haines answers questions on China, QAnon. Takeaways from her confirmation hearing

WASHINGTON – Avril Haines, President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the U.S. intelligence community, vowed to remain at “arms length” from her boss if confirmed to the post and said her mandate from Biden would be to deliver “unvarnished” threat assessments, even if it contradicts his policy preferences. 

During a two-hour open hearing, Haines fielded questions on everything from QAnon’s conspiracies and Chinese espionage to Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Members of the Senate Intelligence Committee also grilled Haines behind closed doors in a closed, classified session as they weigh her nomination to be Biden’s director of national intelligence.

The hearings took place just days after the Capitol came under siege from a violent mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters, who attempted an insurrection to keep Trump in power even though he lost the Nov. 3 election. Biden will be sworn into office Wednesday.

At Tuesday’s hearing, Haines noted the massive military presence in and around the U.S. Capitol, and lawmakers devoted considerable time to questioning her about the threat of domestic terrorism, even though most of the DNI’s job is focused on foreign threats. If confirmed, Haines will oversee 18 U.S. spy and law enforcement agencies, including the CIA, the FBI and nine units under the Pentagon’s purview. 

Here are five takeaways from Haines’ public hearing:    

How dangerous are QAnon, other domestic threats? 

Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., pressed Haines on whether she would push for a public, written assessment of the threat that QAnon, a bizarre conspiracy theory, poses to the United States. 

“As we witnessed … on Jan. 6, a most serious threat to our democracy came from within,” Heinrich said. He said Trump has stoked QAnon believers, white supremacists and other dangerous domestic groups, “but his departure from office tomorrow is certainly not going to eliminate” their activities. 

Haines said if she is confirmed, she would “absolutely” work with the FBI and Department of Homeland Security to publish an assessment of QAnon. She said she would also push for an examination of whether foreign adversaries were involved in amplifying or exacerbating such divisive disinformation.

Haines noted that the DNI’s role is largely to synthesize and analyze foreign intelligence threats, but said she would strongly support the FBI and DHS’s work on domestic terrorism. 

“There are ways in which we can support both (the FBI and DHS) by identifying where there are connections to international organizations, for example,” she said, as well as sharing intelligence about how right wing extremist organizations operate internationally. 

Is China an enemy of the US? 

Many senators grilled Haines on how aggressively she would move to counter Chinese espionage and Beijing’s other malign behavior. 

Sen. Marco Rubio, the top Republican on the committee, said China is wooing mayors and other local city officials across the U.S. in an effort to get them to parrot a pro-China narrative and to enact pro-China policies. He called on Haines to provide training for local officials to educate them on Beijing’s influence operations, a step she agreed would be sensible. 

“I’m gonna just ask you straight out, Miss Haines, is China under the rule of the Chinese Communist Party an adversary of the United States,” asked Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the committee. 

“When it comes to espionage … they are an adversary,” she said, vowing to counter Beijing’s “illegal, unfair, aggressive actions.”

Iran deal: ‘We’re a long ways’ from rejoining

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, pressed Haines on whether she supported Biden’s promise to rejoin the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, noting that the regime has continued to pursue a ballistic missile program and support terrorist proxy forces across the Middle East.

Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018 and re-imposed crippling sanctions on Tehran. Biden has promised to lift those sanctions if Iran comes back into compliance with the accord, which imposed limits on Iran’s uranium enrichment activities, among other measures. 

“I think frankly we’re a long ways from that,” Haines said of Iran coming back into compliance with the 2015 deal. She noted that Biden has also vowed to address Iran’s ballistic missile program and other issues. 

“I absolutely agree that Iran is a threat and a destabilizing actor in the region,” Haines said under further questioning from Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. “What I would hope to do is provide the most accurate (intelligence) we have for policymakers to decide what actions to pursue with regard to Iran.”

After Trump, lawmakers press for depoliticization of intelligence 

Warner and other lawmakers said Haines would need to work overtime to restore morale inside the U.S. intelligence community, after years in which Trump undercut their work and shunned their assessments.   

“Our intelligence professionals have been unfairly maligned,” said Warner, “their expertise, knowledge, and analysis has often been ignored or even sometimes ridiculed by a president uninterested in facts contradicting his political interests.”

Haines said she wanted to send “a clear message” to the intelligence community that Biden expects “apolitical, unvarnished” assessments of threats to the United States. 

Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine, noted Haines’ long working relationship with Biden and warned her against being too friendly with the president, lest it hinder her ability to give him intelligence assessments that contradict his policies.  

She promised to keep Biden at “arms length,” adding: “The president-elect .. has made it absolutely clear that he expects that the (intelligence community) will provide him with apolitical, truth-to-power analysis,” she said. 

Haines also said she might conduct a “survey” to determine what kind of politicization is occurring now and promised to seek lawmakers advice in rooting out any manipulation or truth-shading.

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