Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden defended former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, President Trump’s nominee to be Director of National Intelligence, following a fiery

Republican senators, Democratic senators, and even Edward Snowden urged Tulsi Gabbard to speak out against Edward Snowden at her confirmation hearing, but she steadfastly refused to call the former National Security Agency contractor a traitor.

Meghan McCain expressed her fury over the possibility of DNI nominee Tulsi Gabbard being rejected by the Senate on Friday. The post ‘If She Were a Man!’ Meghan McCain Furious GOP Might ‘Screw’ Tulsi Gabbard,

Gabbard was questioned by Republicans and Democrats alike on her views of Snowden and whether she believes he was a traitor. She declined to say she believed he was a traitor, repeating that she felt he had broken the law and reiterating a point that she has made in the past, that he exposed practices that have resulted in the reform of 702.

In 2020, then-Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard introduced legislation calling on the federal government to drop all charges against Edward Snowden, the National Security Agency contractor who in 2013 revealed the existence of the bulk collection of American phone records by the NSA before fleeing to Russia.

When one lawmaker asked if she believed Mr. Snowden was a traitor, Ms. Gabbard simply said that she was ‘focused on the future.’

In dueling confirmation hearings, Trump’s DNI pick appeared on shaky ground after refusing to condemn Edward Snowden as a “traitor,” while FBI director nominee Kash Patel won plaudits from Republicans.

Any one of those resume bullet points might be enough to sink her precariously perched nomination, but in her confirmation hearing today it was Edward Snowden that dominated the discussion. Judging from the line of questioning from senators in both parties,

Tulsi Gabbard, President Donald Trump’s pick to be director of national intelligence, faced sharp criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike Thursday during a fiery confirmation hearing focused on her past comments sympathetic to Russia,

Gabbard's previous comments about Snowden, responsible for one of the most damaging leaks of sensitive U.S. intelligence, were the focal point of her hearing.

President Trump’s controversial pick for national intelligence chief angered Republicans by refusing to condemn government leaker Edward Snowden.