Tulsi Gabbard, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the next Director of National Intelligence, repeatedly refused to call Edward Snowden a “traitor” during her Senate confirmation hearing.
Gabbard’s previous comments about Snowden, the former NSA contractor responsible for one of the most damaging leaks of sensitive U.S. intelligence, were the focal point of her hearing in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday morning.
Despite telling Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) that she would not recommend Trump grant him clemency or a pardon, the former Hawaii congresswoman declined to characterize him as a “traitor,” when asked directly if she viewed him that way by multiple lawmakers.
She repeatedly said, however, that Snowden “broke the law,” and said she wants to avoid a future occurrence.
“I do not agree with or support, with all of the information and intelligence that he released, nor the way in which he did it,” Gabbard added. “There would have been opportunities for him to come to you on this committee, or seek out the [inspector general] to release that information.”
The top-ranking Democrat on the committee, Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), brought up her previous support of Snowden during his opening remarks.
“You have been publicly outspoken in your praise and defense of Edward Snowden — someone who betrayed the trust of our nation and jeopardized the security of our nation,” he said. “The vast majority of the information he stole and leaked — before running off to China and Russia, might I add, had nothing to do with Americans’ privacy, and compromised our most important sources and methods … You have celebrated Snowden as a, quote, ‘brave whistleblower’ and actually put forward legislation asking for his pardon.”
One of the most tense moments of the hearing came when she refused to call Snowden a traitor during questioning from Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO).
“This is one of the very few opportunities that you will ever have to have a conversation with this panel in public, and the record is going to be very clear about the position you took with regard to Edward Snowden, and the record is going to be very clear,” he said.
Gabbard served in the House of Republicans as a Democrat and during her tenure she introduced a resolution with former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), which called for all charges to be dropped against Snowden and she had urged Trump at the end of his first term to pardon Snowden and others who “exposed the deception and criminality of those in the deep state.”
Snowden, a former NSA contractor, was charged with leaking classified information that revealed U.S. surveillance programs, and he ultimately fled to Russia and became a naturalized citizen there to avoid prosecution and extradition.
One of the senators who questioned Gabbard about Snowden was Sen. Todd Young (R-IN), who has not publicly shared his support for her ahead of time.
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The GOP has a 9-8 advantage on the committee, which means that if all eight Democrats oppose her bringing her nomination to the Senate floor — as is expected — all it would take is one Republican committee member to oppose her. If Young votes with the Democrats it would sink her nomination.
“I think it would befit you and be helpful to way you were perceived by members of the intelligence community, if you would at least acknowledge that the greatest whistleblower in American history, so-called, harm national security by breaking the laws of the land around our intel authorities,” Young said to her.