Tulsi Gabbard, Nominee for Director of National Intelligence, Is Grilled by the Senate Intelligence Committee

By Adam Garrie, The Kennedy Beacon

Former Hawaii congresswoman and Army veteran, Tulsi Gabbard, testified for over two hours Thursday during a contentious hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee. If confirmed by the Senate, Gabbard will become the next Director of National Intelligence (DNI).

Democrats and Republicans pressed Gabbard about her views on Russia, India and Syria –– and whether whistle-blower Edward Snowden is a traitor.

Gabbard answered Senators’ questions in an earnest and thorough manner, even as it became clear that Intelligence Committee members, on both sides of the aisle, were more interested in preserving the military-intelligence complex than in hearing Gabbard defend civil liberties.

Nominated by President Trump, Gabbard used her opening remarks to list what she views as U.S. intelligence failures over the last several decades. She cited flawed intelligence prior to the 2003 Iraq War, which she said led to the deaths of U.S. service personnel and civilians. Gabbard also criticized the Biden administration for what she called attacks on religious freedom.

Gabbard also cited the FBI’s illicit spying on the 2016 Trump campaign as a reason why the American public holds the intelligence community in low regard. Moreover, she accused former CIA Director John Brennan of spying on members of Congress and said leaked information from Hunter Biden’s laptop prior to the 2020 presidential election created further public distrust of the FBI and the CIA.

Turning to her own experiences, Gabbard reiterated her prior statements that she was put on a government watch list known as “Quiet Skies” immediately after she criticized Kamala Harris, the serving Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate at the time.

When committee members asked Gabbard about her praise for National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Snowden, she defended herself: while Snowden’s disclosures of classified information were illegal, she said the information he leaked contained evidence of illegal activities by the national security apparatus and praised those disclosures for leading to legislative reforms aimed at reducing surveillance of American citizens. She artfully refused to call Snowden a traitor.

Prior to the committee hearing, Snowden anticipated the line of questioning about Gabbard’s views on his actions and offered her the following advice, “Tulsi Gabbard will be required to disown all prior support for whistleblowers as a condition of confirmation today,” he wrote on X, “I encourage her to do so. Tell them I harmed national security and the sweet, soft feelings of staff. In D.C., that's what passes for the pledge of allegiance.”

Gabbard pledged that if confirmed to be the next DNI, she would end the politicization of intelligence gathering and specifically pointed to what she called “abuse” of the Espionage Act by the Justice Department during the Obama administration.

Gabbard also pushed back against past accusations that she is the “puppet” of foreign leaders including of Russia, India, and the deposed leader of Syria. She instead affirmed her view that to maintain global peace, leaders of all foreign powers should be engaged diplomatically.

When asked if she regretted her role in a fact-finding mission to Syria and Lebanon alongside former Congressional Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) in 2017, Gabbard said that she did not. She emphasized the importance of gathering facts on the ground and listening to the concerns of civilians in conflict zones as a way to form a better assessment of U.S. policy decisions.

While the role of DNI is arguably more important to domestic surveillance than foreign intelligence gathering, many of the questions Gabbard faced were centered around her views on military and foreign policy. At one point, Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) asked if Gabbard ever met with the leadership of Hezbollah, a suggestion that Gabbard called absurd.

When asked whether she would take an ideological stance if confirmed as DNI, Gabbard said that she would leave her political views at the door and be objective about gathering and interpreting intelligence. She likened this position to the “brick wall” that exists between her prior political role in Congress and her duties as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Reserve.

Surprisingly, the committee did not ask Gabbard about how she would expand and secure constitutionally protected civil liberties, suggesting that the majority of senators on the committee were more preoccupied with protecting the existing intelligence apparatus.

At one point, Gabbard was asked why she opposed President Biden’s signing of legislation banning the social media app TikTok. Gabbard said that as a private citizen, she felt that the ban was an infringement on the First Amendment rights of Americans. Gabbard also highlighted the fact that user data privacy is compromised not just by TikTok but also by U.S.- owned social media platforms. Few Committee members appeared to care about how negatively a TikTok ban would impact Americans’First Amendment rights.

Gabbard’s answers revealed deep concern for citizens who have found their civil liberties threatened by the growing surveillance state. If confirmed as DNI, she said, she would never infringe on the Fourth Amendment and other guarantees of civil liberties.

It remains unclear when the Senate Intelligence Committee will take the Gabbard vote to the full Senate.