Sen. Tommy Tuberville said Tuesday he had flagged former CIA Director Michael Hayden’s social media suggestion about removing Tuberville from the human race to Capitol police, accusing the former chief spook of calling for a “politically motivated assassination.”
“I expect that [Capitol Police] will once again do an excellent job protecting members of Congress and bringing criminals to justice,” Tuberville (R-Ala.) said in a blistering statement.
Hayden was responding Monday night to a post on X, formerly Twitter, venting frustration with Tuberville’s ongoing Senate hold on bulk votes for military promotions, which has held up the confirmation of at least 300 nominees put forward by President Biden for various posts.
Tuberville confirmed Monday that he would not lift his hold even after Palestinian terror group Hamas slaughtered at least 1,000 people — including at least 14 Americans — in a coordinated assault on southern Israel over the weekend.
“Should Tommy Tuberville be removed from his committee? Yes or No?” self-described Democrat Nathalie Jacoby posted, referring to Tuberville’s membership of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
“How about the human race?” Hayden replied.
Hayden, who helmed the CIA from 2006 to 2009 after leading the National Security Agency from 1999 to 2005, later doubled down on his remarks.
“I was surprised to wake up this morning and discover that many MAGAnuts had lost their minds over my suggestion that ‘Coach’ Tuberville not be considered a member of the human race. I stand by that view. I’m wishing you all a nice day even the intransigent Tommy Tuberville,” he said early Tuesday.
“Given General Hayden’s long career in Washington, he must have known that, by making such a statement, he was committing a serious crime,” Tuberville contended in his statement.
“His own efforts today to reinterpret what he said are only a tacit admission of guilt. If we still have a nonpolitical justice system in this country, then General Hayden will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
The 69-year-old former college football coach further bashed Hayden for presiding over some of the “biggest failures in the history of American intelligence, such as the September 11 attacks and the lack of Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq.”
He further bemoaned the lack of Democrats in Congress who “condemned this reckless statement.”
Tuberville’s hold is in response to a Pentagon policy that pays for service members to travel across state lines to obtain reproductive care — including abortion and in-vitro fertilization.
A handful of Republicans, such as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have blasted Tuberville’s blockade in addition to almost all Senate Democrats.
Last month, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) bypassed the hold to confirm three high-ranking nominees, including the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, C.Q. Brown.
The Senate is not due to reconvene until next week.