Tulsi Gabbard faced a slew of questions from senators in both parties about her knowledge of national intelligence and concerns about her past during her Senate Intelligence confirmation hearing Thursday.
It was a far cry from the hearings for some other Donald Trump nominees, where most Republican senators used their time to defend, rather than question, the nominees. Multiple senators across both parties have expressed reservations about Gabbard. And at her hearing, she faced a rare bipartisan grilling.
Gabbard’s past support for Edward Snowden was a particular sticking point. In 2020, when she was a House Democrat, the DNI nominee introduced a resolution encouraging the United States government to drop its charges against Snowden.
“This is a big deal to everybody here because it’s a big deal to everybody that you’ll oversee,” Sen. James Lankford said. “So, was Edward Snowden a traitor?”
Gabbard declined again to give a yes or no answer but said she would commit to making sure “there was no further Snowden-type leaks.” Pressed further, she said she was focused on the future.
She avoided a direct answer to Sen. Todd Young as well.
“Was Edward Snowden false to an obligation or false to a duty?” Young asked Gabbard. “Did he betray a duty? Did he betray the trust of the American people, which is, according to Merriam-Webster, that’s the definition of a traitor.”
Gabbard once again defaulted to the line she repeated throughout the hearing: “Edward Snowden broke the law.”
Republicans also pressed her on Russia. She’s been criticized for signaling support to Russia in the past, and on a questionnaire to the committee, she referenced only the war in Ukraine as a priority with regard to the country, according to Sen. Jerry Moran.
“When you talk about Russia, what are your fears and priorities beyond ending the war?” he asked. “How do you see Russia as a threat to the United States?”
Gabbard cited Russia’s nuclear weapons arsenal, among other issues, and Moran seemed satisfied with her answer.
Sen. John Cornyn also avoided the lukewarm questions that have defined several other recent confirmation hearings. Instead, he quizzed Gabbard on her understanding of court rulings about intelligence gathering under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, another hot topic at the hearing.
Gabbard previously criticized the law, which allows intelligence gathering on foreign nationals living abroad, but said earlier this month that she now supports Section 702. Multiple senators have raised doubts about whether Gabbard’s change of heart about the policy is genuine (“I’m not sure I buy it,” Warner said at the hearing).
Some facets of the questioning, however, were less intense than expected.
Sen. Susan Collins, regarded as the defining swing vote on the committee after she also expressed concerns about Gabbard’s switch on Section 702, didn’t bring up FISA at all during her first round of questioning.
Several of the closest Trump allies on the committee were more deferential to Gabbard than their more moderate Republican colleagues. Multiple senators referenced the Trump administration’s agenda, including the president’s quest to trim down the federal workforce.
Sen. Tom Cotton opened the hearing by emphasizing that he’d reduce the number of employees at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
“The ODNI staff is measured in the thousands, and it should be measured in the dozens, or maybe a few 100. I promise that’s going to change. I intend to get personnel in ODNI back to their home agencies doing real intelligence work,” Cotton said.
Gabbard herself was largely on the defensive in response to senators’ questions — and even before the questioning began.
“I want to warn the American people who are watching at home, you may hear lies and smears in this hearing that will challenge my loyalty to and my love for our country,” Gabbard said during her opening statement. “I have no love for Assad or Gadhafi or any dictator.”
—
Shifra Dayak is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.