Top Senate Intelligence Dem grills Gabbard if Edward Snowden is 'brave': 'Very troubling'

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Tulsi Gabbard answers questions on Edward Snowden

Director of National Intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard answers questions on Edward Snowden during her confirmation hearing.

Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, grilled President Donald Trump's DNI nominee Tulsi Gabbard over her previous remarks praising whistleblower Edward Snowden. 

"Until you are nominated by the president to be the DNI, you consistently praised the actions of Edward Snowden, someone, I believe, jeopardized the security of our nation and then, to flaunt that, fled to Russia," Warner asked of Gabbard on Thursday morning. 

"You even called Edward Snowden and I quote here, ‘a brave whistleblower.’ Every member of this committee supports the rights of legal whistleblowers. But Edward Snowden isn't a whistleblower, and in this case, I'm a lot closer to the chairman's words where he said Snowden is, quote, ‘an egotistical serial liar and traitor' who, quote, ‘deserves to rot in jail for the rest of his life.’ Ms. Gabbard is simple, yes or no question. Do you still think Edward Snowden is brave?"

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Tulsi Gabbard, President Donald Trump's choice to be the Director of National Intelligence, arrives to appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee for her confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell) (AP)

Gabbard pushed back that Snowden "broke the law" and does not agree with his leak of intelligence.

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"Mr. Vice Chairman, Edward Snowden broke the law. I do not agree with or support with all of the information and intelligence that he released, nor the way in which he did it. There would have been opportunities for him to come to you on this committee, or seek out the IG to release that information. 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," Gabbard responded. 

Sen. Warner is the ranking member of the Intel Committee. (Reuters)

In 2013, Snowden was working as an IT contractor for the National Security Agency when he traveled to Hong Kong to meet with three journalists and transferred to them thousands of pages of classified documents about the U.S. government’s surveillance of its citizens. 

"I'm making myself very clear. Edward Snowden broke the law. He released information about the United States government," Gabbard continued as she defended her position. 

"If I may just finish my thoughts, Senator," Gabbard continued, as Warner spoke over her. "In this role that I've been nominated for, if confirmed as director of national intelligence, I will be responsible for protecting our nation's secrets. And I have four immediate steps that I would take to prevent another Snowden-like leak."

Gabbard has previously lauded Snowden, including during an appearance on "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast in 2019. 

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Edward Snowden, in Hong Kong, in a June 9, 2013, photo. (AP Photo/The Guardian, Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras, File)

"If it wasn’t for Snowden, the American people would never have learned the NSA was collecting phone records and spying on Americans," she said on "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast at the time.

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Gabbard appeared before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday morning as part of her confirmation process to serve as the second Trump administration's director of national intelligence. 

Fox News Digital's Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.