Gabbard Defies Senators Demanding She Call Snowden a ‘Traitor’

Jan. 30, 2025, 7:24 PM UTC

Tulsi Gabbard,President Donald Trump’s pick to be the US spy chief, ran into bipartisan criticism over an episode from the past — her championing of Edward Snowden, who rocked the intelligence world 12 years ago with his disclosure of top-secret US spy programs.

Gabbard’s praise of the former National Security Agency contractor who found refuge in Russia could endanger her chances if she fails to assuage several Republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee that considered her nomination in a hearing Thursday.

Pressed whether she still believes that Snowden was “a brave whistleblower,” as she once said, Gabbard ...

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