Amid all the questions about Tulsi Gabbard’s unorthodox views on Russia and Syria, the disclosures of Edward Snowden, done more than a decade ago, emerged as the biggest and most contentious issue at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday.
Ms. Gabbard, President Trump’s nominee to be the director of national intelligence, came to the hearing prepared to distance herself from Mr. Snowden. But she was unwilling to take a step both Republicans and Democrats wanted her to take: join them in declaring him a traitor.
The questioning was polite from Republicans, and ferocious from Democrats, particularly Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado.
“Is Edward Snowden a traitor to the United States of America?” Mr. Bennett asked in a thunderous voice. “That is not a hard question to answer.”
But whether the question was presented politely or pointedly, the answer from Ms. Gabbard was the same: Mr. Snowden broke the law and she would ensure that future intelligence officers knew how to properly make a whistle-blower complaint.
In a social media post before the hearing, Mr. Snowden, who is now a citizen of Russia, urged her to denounce her past support for him. But Ms. Gabbard did not. And Mr. Snowden took to social media to defend her and tell the lawmakers to “move on,” arguing that courts had taken Ms. Gabbard’s side and that the National Security Agency’s actions he exposed were illegal.
In 2013, Mr. Snowden, then a contractor for the N.S.A. in Hawaii, gained access to reams of classified material. His most significant disclosure was the bulk data collection of Americans’ phone metadata.
“The fact is, he also, even as he broke the law, released information that exposed egregious, illegal and unconstitutional programs that are happening within our government,” Ms. Gabbard said of Mr. Snowden during the hearing.
A number of Republicans took issue with Ms. Gabbard’s defense of Mr. Snowden, including Susan Collins of Maine, James Lankford of Oklahoma and Todd Young of Indiana. The question will be how many of the Republicans will find her defense of Mr. Snowden disqualifying.
Ms. Collins is a possible vote against Ms. Gabbard. But Mr. Cotton, long one of Mr. Snowden’s fiercest critics, announced his support for her nomination before the hearing.
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