WASHINGTON >> Tulsi Gabbard, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to lead the U.S. intelligence services, in 2022 endorsed one of Russia’s main justifications for invading Ukraine: the existence of U.S.-funded biolabs working on some of the world’s nastiest pathogens.

Moscow claimed Ukraine was using the labs to create deadly bioweapons similar to COVID-19 that could be used against Russia, and that Russian President Vladimir Putin had no choice but to invade neighboring Ukraine to protect his country.

In fact, the labs are public and part of an international effort to control outbreaks and stop bioweapons.

Gabbard, a military veteran and a former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii, later said she wasn’t accusing the United States or Ukraine of anything nefarious and was just voicing concerns about protecting the labs.

Gabbard’s past comments supportive of Russia — as well as secret meetings with Syria’s president, a close ally of Russia and Iran — are attracting fresh scrutiny from Democrats and national security analysts who fear that as Trump’s director of national intelligence she could give Russia a major win, undercut Ukraine, weaken U.S. national security and endanger intelligence ties with allies.

Democrats say Gabbard’s comments signify a pro-Russian bent that poses a problem for U.S. national security if she is confirmed by the Senate.

“Do you really want her to have all of the secrets of the United States and our defense intelligence agencies when she has so clearly been in Putin’s pocket?” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said on MSNBC. “That just has to be a hard no.”