Was Tulsi Gabbard Put on an FBI Watch List for Going to a Peace Conference at the Vatican?

Sure looks like it

Via Matt Johnson / Flickr

In one of The New York Times’ big pre-confirmation pieces on Tulsi Gabbard, they mention an incident last year in which she was subjected to special scrutiny due to a conference at the Vatican she attended.

It leaves a little clue that the conference organizer was put on an FBI watchlist due to contacts with Russian intelligence assets, specifically former FSB officer Igor Girkin. The story makes reference to a photo of the two of them, which is almost certainly this one:

The conference in question is almost certainly this one from May, covered by EWTN:

The legacy of the Venerable Robert Schuman, often hailed as the founding father of a united Europe, continues to inspire efforts to build peace across the continent. Schuman’s guiding principle, “Economic progress must go hand in hand with moral progress,” remains a central tenet for those dedicated to fostering harmony and cooperation.

Monsignor Bernard Ardura, the Postulator of Schuman’s Beatification Cause, emphasized Schuman’s belief in placing the human person at the center of progress. “Let's place the human person at the center. And then, as the great Robert Schuman said, 'Economic progress must go hand in hand with moral progress,'” Ardura remarked.

Pierre Louvrier, founder and chairman of the Clementy Foundation, hosted a round table at the Vatican inspired by Schuman's concept. The event aimed to promote dialogue and enhance global stability. Louvrier explained, “Our target is to create a forum where people can come and talk, where people can come and meet and see how the mechanism of a common market of shared responsibility for defense can provide security and prosperity to everybody.”

Clearly Girkin is a dubious character, but the associational game being played here is a little embarrassing for U.S. authorities. If you can’t talk peace at the Vatican without being treated as a terrorism associate, the authorities have lost a sense of proportion.

Is this what “Pinko John” Brennan, no longer America’s most powerful Gus Hall voter now that his clearance has been pulled, was worried about? Is this why they want to have a secret confirmation hearing?

The story here is probably that technologies and training developed for counterterrorism are a bad fit for a time of great power conflict. Seems like Gabbard is going to come out of this smelling like roses.

Update: Mr. Louvrier has sent me a threat of legal action, and claims the photo above is fabricated and asks me to take it down. He also tells me the Times reached out to him in December. If the Times is correct and this was the contact that caused Gabbard to be placed on some kind of list, and the photo is indeed fabricated, that’s potentially troubling for the FBI. I advise the public via this update that its authenticity is disputed by Louvrier, but in this case choose to err on the side of transparency with respect to the actual photo given that it concerns matters relevant to the confirmation of America’s spy chief.