Washington, DC – Tulsi Gabbard, President Donald Trump’s nominee for director of national intelligence, has faced tough questions from United States lawmakers over her past positions, including her support for whistleblower Edward Snowden.

At a confirmation hearing on Thursday, senators also grilled Gabbard over a 2017 visit to Syria, where she met with then-President Bashar al-Assad.

A former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii, Gabbard has been outspoken against interventionist foreign policy.

She unsuccessfully ran for president in 2020, and two years later, she quit the Democratic Party, decrying it as an “elitist cabal of warmongers”.

She subsequently started campaigning for Republican candidates, including Trump.

If confirmed, Gabbard would become the chief of the US intelligence community, which is composed of 18 agencies, including the FBI and CIA. She would also brief and advise the president on security matters.

Gabbard is one of many controversial nominees Trump has appointed to key positions.But with a 53-seat majority in the 100-member Senate, Republicans are expected to confirm all of Trump’s picks.

Gabbard faced her first test as a nominee in front of sceptical lawmakers on the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday. Below are some key takeaways from the hearing:

Snowden, Snowden, Snowden

Several Democrats and even some Republicans on the panel invoked Gabbard’s past statements backing Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor who leaked documents about mass surveillance programmes in the US government.

In 2020, a US court found that the surveillance exposed by Snowden, including collecting phone records, was illegal.

Snowden, who initially fled to Hong Kong, was granted asylum in Russia after the US government revoked his passport.

Gabbard previously called Snowden a “brave” whistleblower, and in 2020, she co-sponsored a House resolution urging the US government to drop all charges against Snowden.

On Thursday, Gabbard was questioned aggressively about that position. Democratic Senator Michael Bennet asked her several times whether she considers Snowden a traitor.

The former congresswoman refused to say so. She walked a fine line by stressing that Snowden broke the law and she does not agree with his actions while not fully condemning him.

“The fact is, he also – even as he broke the law – released information that exposed egregious, illegal and unconstitutional programmes,” she said.

Gabbard, who served in the US military and remains an army reservist, also stressed that she herself has never leaked secret information.

Earlier on Thursday, Snowden suggested that Gabbard should disavow him to secure her confirmation.

“Tell them I harmed national security and the sweet, soft feelings of staff,” he wrote in a social media post. “In DC, that’s what passes for the pledge of allegiance.”

Tulsi Gabbard will be required to disown all prior support for whistleblowers as a condition of confirmation today. 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. pic.twitter.com/Z1OmOHgvdU

— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) January 30, 2025

Al-Assad meeting

Another issue that kept resurfacing during the hearing was Gabbard’s 2017 trip to Syria and Lebanon.

Gabbard met with al-Assad at a time when the US was calling on him to step down over atrocities committed by his government.

“I asked him tough questions about his own regime’s actions, the use of chemical weapons and the brutal tactics that were being used against his own people,” she said.

Gabbard also denied meeting with any Hezbollah officials while in Lebanon.

When asked whether meeting with al-Assad was good judgement, Gabbard said yes.

“I believe that leaders – whether you be in Congress or the president of the United States – can benefit greatly by going and engaging boots on the ground, learning and listening and meeting directly with people, whether they be adversaries or friends,” she said.

Gabbard said her main concern has been “extremist” Syrian rebels.

The former congresswoman also slammed Syria’s new leadership, composed of former rebels who toppled al-Assad’s government in December.

She described the fall of al-Assad as “the sudden takeover of Syria by Islamist extremists”.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the main rebel group that captured Damascus last year, had past ties to al-Qaeda. HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa is now the transitional president of Syria.

The US previously offered a reward for capturing al-Sharaa, but it was revoked after US officials visited him in Damascus in December.

Pro-Trump message

In her opening remarks, Gabbard gave a nod to the president who nominated her, amplifying Trump’s claims that he was targeted by intelligence officials for political reasons.

She invoked the foreign surveillance warrant that authorities used to surveil a Trump aide before the 2016 elections as they investigated possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.

“The American people elected Donald Trump as their president, not once, but twice,” she said.

“Yet the FBI and intelligence agencies were politicised by his opponents to undermine his presidency and falsely portray him as a puppet of Putin.”

She pledged to deliver “unbiased” findings to Trump, saying “weaponised” intelligence can lead to terrible consequences. Gabbard cited the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, which was based on false reports that the country had weapons of mass destruction.

“This disastrous decision led to the deaths of tens of thousands of American soldiers, millions of people in the Middle East, mass migration, destabilisation and undermining of the security and stability of our European allies, the rise of ISIS, strengthening of al-Qaeda and other Islamist jihadist groups and strengthening Iran,” she said.