Tulsi Gabbard, President Trump’s decide to be the following director of nationwide intelligence, endured a troublesome listening to earlier than the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday as lawmakers pressed her on her views on Edward Snowden, spying, Syria and Russia.
The previous congresswoman and Military lieutenant colonel has been thought-about among the many hardest lifts of Trump’s nominees, and based mostly on the general public portion of Thursday’s listening to, Gabbard stays in a troublesome spot. She seemingly must win a majority of the 17 committee votes — which may very well be troublesome in its personal proper — to succeed in a ground vote.
Her two and a half hour public assembly with lawmakers got here earlier than a second listening to behind closed doorways the place she and lawmakers had been in a position to focus on delicate matters.
Listed here are 5 takeaways from her listening to.
Snowden dominates the dialogue
Again and again, members of the panel from either side of the aisle requested Gabbard about Snowden. And again and again, she got here again with a repeated, inventory reply that didn’t seem ample for them.
Senators had indicated for weeks that they had been involved about Gabbard’s previous remarks relating to the disgraced Nationwide Safety Company contractor who leaked myriad labeled paperwork.
Gabbard co-authored laws supporting a pardon for him and supported a invoice that may have given elevated whistleblower protections for people accused of violating the Espionage Act — each of which had been anathema to members on the Intelligence panel.
Whereas Snowden got here up a number of occasions in the course of the first hour, it wasn’t till the second half of the listening to that the difficulty exploded, as Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) requested her twice if Snowden was a traitor. She demurred each occasions.
“My heart is with my commitment to our Constitution and our nation’s security,” Gabbard mentioned, laying out 4 actions she would take to stop one other future Snowden-like leak.
“Senator, I’m focused on the future and how we can prevent something like this from happening again,” she mentioned after Lankford requested a second time.
These solutions prompted Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) to ask the query three extra occasions earlier than letting free on Gabbard for her incapability to provide a “yes” or “no” reply.
“This is when the rubber hits the road. This is not a moment for social media. This is not a moment to propagate conspiracy theories or attacks on journalism in the United States,” Bennet mentioned. “This is when you need to answer the questions of the people whose votes you are asking for to be confirmed as the chief intelligence officer of this nation.”
In whole, greater than a half-dozen members requested her concerning the now-Russian citizen, with Gabbard repeatedly responding that Snowden “broke the law” and that she disagreed with how he launched the knowledge.
Her incapability to reply whether or not Snowden was a traitor baffled even a few of her supporters.
“I felt that was a pretty easy question, actually, to be able to come through and just say, ‘This is universally accepted when you steal a million pages of top-secret documents and you hand them to the Russians, that’s a traitorous act,’” Lankford instructed reporters after the open session. “That did catch me off guard.”
“I was surprised, yeah. Because that doesn’t seem like a hard question on that,” he continued. “It wasn’t intended to be a trick question by any means.”
Gabbard runs into resistance from GOP swing vote
Atop Gabbard’s to-do checklist on Thursday was successful over a pair of Senate Republicans who’re believed to be on the fence about her nomination: Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Todd Younger (Ind.). She can’t afford to lose even a single GOP vote on the committee.
Younger, a former Marine intelligence officer, pressed Gabbard arduous about Snowden, seemingly unimpressed along with her solutions.
He requested a couple of Home Intelligence Committee report that discovered Snowden “caused tremendous damage” together with “to military, defense and intelligence programs of great interest to America’s adversaries.”
Gabbard reiterated her oft-used line that Snowden “broke the law” and that she would push to keep away from a repeat occasion sooner or later. The reply didn’t seem ample for Younger.
“It’s notable you didn’t say, ‘Yes, he clearly hurt, in various ways, our national security,’” Younger responded.
Younger went on to ask about how she thinks rank-and-file members of the intelligence group will obtain her given her previous feedback about Snowden and whether or not he “betrayed the trust of the American people” — including that marks the definition of a “traitor.”
Gabbard as soon as once more mentioned Snowden broke the regulation and repeated related traces she peppered members with on Snowden-related questions.
Younger lastly retorted that Snowden was watching the listening to and declared it might do her a world of fine “if you would at least acknowledge that the greatest whistleblower … harmed national security by breaking the laws of the land around our intel authority.”
Younger is way from a carbon copy of most Trump-supporting senators who’ve come into workplace lately. He was one of many few who by no means endorsed Trump throughout his 2024 marketing campaign and is a outstanding protection hawk. One GOP supply went as far as to say that Younger was “a problem” for Gabbard heading into the listening to.
Collins, in the meantime, didn’t create many waves throughout her questioning as a part of the open session, asking whether or not Gabbard has met with any Hezbollah leaders or members and different queries pertaining to the phobia threats dealing with the U.S. and her proposal to guard whistleblowers from prosecution in the event that they reveal labeled data.
Gabbard tries to assuage issues on 702 after Collins criticism
Although Collins didn’t ask about Part 702 of the International Intelligence Surveillance Act on Thursday, the intelligence device seems to be on the heart of her apprehension about Gabbard.
And it got here up repeatedly all through the listening to as Gabbard tried to persuade panel members that she now not was towards what they roundly imagine to be a crucial device to collect intelligence on overseas soil.
Gabbard was an avid opponent of Part 702 — which permits for the warrantless surveillance of overseas targets — all through her time within the Home. She proposed laws in 2020 to repeal this system and voted quite a few occasions towards reauthorizing it.
This raised purple flags for quite a few members of the committee, prompting Gabbard to flip her place since being nominated.
“[Section 702] provides a unique security tool and capability that is essential for our national security. There are a number of areas we would be blind from a national security perspective without this capability,” Gabbard mentioned, including that the device “must exist next to having safeguards” to again the civil liberties of People.
Nevertheless, her present stance has not been as much as muster for some who will resolve her destiny. Collins instructed The Hill final week that she didn’t imagine Gabbard really modified her stance on this challenge given the nominee’s solutions to written questions that had been “hedged” ceaselessly.
Gabbard defends 2017 Syria journey
Gabbard, since she was nominated, has discovered herself on the again foot over her 2017 go to to Syria for a secret assembly with then-President Bashar Assad, and on Thursday she tried to defend the go to to lawmakers.
When requested by Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) whether or not the journey exhibited “good judgment,” she mentioned that it had.
“Yes, senator. And I believe that leaders, whether you be in Congress or the president of the United States, can benefit greatly by going and engaging,” she mentioned. “Boots on the ground, learning and listening and meeting directly with people, whether they be adversaries or friends.”
Gabbard mentioned she requested Assad “tough questions” about his regime’s actions, together with the usage of chemical weapons on Syrians. She added that she met with then-Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) concerning the journey with none intelligence group or State Division officers current.
She additionally admitted that the assembly didn’t produce any concessions from Assad.
Assad was deposed as Syrian chief in December and was granted asylum in Russia.
Senators press Gabbard on Russia feedback
Gabbard tried to quell issues about her stance on Russia and the continued struggle in Ukraine, dismissing accusations that she is a “puppet” of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In probably the most stunning and jarring second associated to Russia, Gabbard instructed Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) that she was “offended” by him asking if Russia would obtain “a pass” in “either your mind or your heart” when making a coverage suggestion.
“I am offended by the question because my sole focus, commitment and responsibility is about our own nation, our own security, and the interest of the American people,” Gabbard mentioned. “In carrying out the responsibilities of the director of national intelligence, if confirmed, no country, group or individual will get a pass.”
Gabbard was recognized for echoing Putin’s speaking factors on the Ukraine struggle to the purpose the place Russian state tv promoted her feedback.
At one level, Gabbard claimed that the Biden administration and NATO had been partially accountable for the struggle, having argued that they need to have “simply acknowledged Russia’s legitimate security concerns.”
On Thursday, Heinrich adopted up by asking who was accountable for the struggle.
“Putin started the war in Ukraine,” she responded.
