Democratic Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, grilled Tulsi Gabbard on her previous remarks praising Edward Snowden.

President Donald Trump's choice to direct U.S. intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, faces a Senate panel that is divided over its position on her nomination in a confirmation hearing on Thursday.

Tulsi Gabbard, President Trump’s pick to be the next director of national intelligence, endured a difficult hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday as lawmakers pressed her on her views on Edward Snowden,

Most Democrats and even some Republicans seemed uneasy with Tulsi Gabbard and her answers to their questions during her confirmation hearing with the Senate Intelligence Committee.

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.

Tulsi Gabbard, the nominee for director of national intelligence, repeatedly avoided joining senators in calling Mr. Snowden a traitor.

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

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.

Despite Patel’s leading role in perpetrating Trump’s failed coup, Gabbard appears to face a much tougher road to Senate confirmation after she refused to unequivocally renounce her previous defense of whistleblower Edward Snowden.

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.

A bipartisan House intelligence committee investigation concluded in 2016 that Snowden’s theft caused “tremendous damage” to national security and quoted a Russian official saying Snowden did share intelligence with Moscow. Multiple senators pressed Gabbard to call Snowden a traitor. She steadfastly refused.

Gabbard, a former congresswoman and an Army Reserve officer, faced challenging questions from senators on both sides of the aisle during her confirmation hearing to become director of national intelligence.