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President Donald Trump's prime for manager of nationalist intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, faced an hourslong proceeding earlier the Senate Intelligence Committee connected Thursday, fielding a bevy of questions related to her qualifications and erstwhile remarks related to nationalist security.
Gabbard appeared earlier the quality committee connected Thursday greeting wherever she worked to rally enactment from lawmakers up of Senate committee and level votes.
Fox News Digital reported up of the hearing that Gabbard did not person a bulk of its committee members' votes, which are indispensable to determination to the afloat Senate, according to a elder Intel Committee aide. Gabbard apt volition request each Republican ballot to determination past the committee, assuming Democrats ballot against her.
A spokesperson for Gabbard brushed disconnected concerns that Gabbard would not person capable committee votes successful a connection to Fox News Digital up of the hearing.
"Anonymous sources are going to proceed to prevarication and smear to effort and instrumentality down the President’s nominees and subvert the volition of the American radical and the media is playing a relation successful publishing these lies," the spokesperson said. "That doesn’t alteration the information that Lt. Col. Gabbard is immensely qualified for this relation and we look guardant to her hearing."
Fox News Digital compiled the apical 5 moments, exchanges and highlights from the hearing, which ended up of 1 p.m. connected Thursday earlier it moved to a closed league aboriginal successful the afternoon.
Gabbard kicked disconnected her Thursday proceeding by preemptively combating "lies and smears" she anticipated to perceive from immoderate Senate lawmakers, including that she simultaneously operates arsenic a "puppet" for Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and others.
"Before I close, I privation to pass the American radical who are watching astatine home: You whitethorn perceive lies and smears successful this proceeding that volition situation my loyalty to and my emotion for our country," Gabbard said.
"Those who reason my information connote that I americium loyal to thing oregon idiosyncratic different than God, my ain conscience and the Constitution of the United States," she continued. "Accusing maine of being Trump's puppet, Putin's puppet, Assad's puppet, a guru's puppet, Modi's puppet, not recognizing the absurdity of simultaneously being the puppet of 5 antithetic puppet masters."
'LIES AND SMEARS': TULSI GABBARD RAILS AGAINST DEM NARRATIVE SHE'S TRUMP'S AND PUTIN'S 'PUPPET'
"The aforesaid maneuver was utilized against President Trump and failed," she said of the accusations against her.
Gabbard's critics person slammed her since Trump's predetermination triumph and her nomination, including claiming she lacks the qualifications for the role, questioning her judgement implicit her 2017 gathering with then-Syrian dictator Bashar Assad and labeling her a "likely a Russian asset," arsenic Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz claimed successful November 2024.
"The American radical elected President Trump with a decisive triumph and mandate for change," Gabbard said. "The information is, what genuinely unsettles my governmental opponents is I garbage to beryllium their puppet. I person nary emotion for Assad oregon Gadhafi oregon immoderate dictator. I conscionable hatred al-Qaeda. I hatred that we person leaders who cozy up to Islamist extremists, minimizing them to alleged rebels."
Gabbard was questioned connected her views of National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden repeatedly passim the hearing, including by ranking subordinate Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., arsenic good arsenic Sens. Angus King, I-Maine, Michael Bennet, D-Colo., Susan Collins, R-Maine, James Lankford, R-Okla., and others.
"Was Edward Snowden a traitor to the United States of America?" Bennet asked Gabbard.
"He broke the law," Gabbard responded.
"Was Edward Snowden a traitor?" Lankford besides asked.
TOP SENATE INTELLIGENCE DEM GRILLS GABBARD IF EDWARD SNOWDEN IS 'BRAVE': 'VERY TROUBLING'
"Senator, my bosom is with my committedness to our Constitution and our nation's security," she responded. "I person shown passim my astir 22 years of work successful the military, arsenic good arsenic my clip successful Congress, however earnestly I instrumentality the privilege of having entree to classified accusation and our nation's secrets. And that's wherefore I'm committed, if confirmed arsenic manager of nationalist intelligence, to articulation you successful making definite that determination is nary aboriginal Snowden-type leak."
Gabbard antecedently has made favorable remarks related to Snowden crossed the years, including successful 2019 connected Joe Rogan's podcast, and calling connected Trump successful 2020 to pardon "brave whistleblowers exposing lies and amerciable actions successful our government," specified arsenic Snowden.
"If it wasn’t for Snowden, the American radical would ne'er person learned the NSA was collecting telephone records and spying connected Americans," she said connected "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast successful 2019.
Snowden was moving arsenic an accusation exertion contractor for the National Security Agency successful 2013 erstwhile helium traveled to Hong Kong to conscionable with 3 journalists and transferred thousands of pages of classified documents astir the U.S. government’s surveillance of its citizens to them. He soon traveled to Russia and planned to caput to Ecuador, but national authorities canceled his passport and indicted him for espionage.
Snowden yet remained successful Russia and became a naturalized national successful 2022.
"Until you are nominated by the president to beryllium the DNI, you consistently praised the actions of Edward Snowden, someone, I believe, jeopardized the information of our federation and then, to flaunt that, fled to Russia," Warner said to Gabbard connected Thursday morning.
"You adjacent called Edward Snowden, and I punctuation here, ‘a brave whistleblower,’" helium said. "Every subordinate of this committee supports the rights of ineligible whistleblowers. But Edward Snowden isn't a whistleblower, and successful this case, I'm a batch person to the chairman's words wherever helium said Snowden is, quote, 'an egotistical serial liar and traitor' who, quote, 'deserves to rot successful jailhouse for the remainder of his life.' Ms. Gabbard, a elemental yes oregon nary question: Do you inactive deliberation Edward Snowden is brave?"
Gabbard pushed backmost that Snowden "broke the law" and does not hold with his leak of intelligence.
"Mr. Vice Chairman, Edward Snowden broke the law," she said. "I bash not hold with oregon enactment with each of the accusation and quality that helium released nor the mode successful which helium did it. There would person been opportunities for him to travel to you connected this committee oregon question retired the IG to merchandise that information. The information is, helium also, adjacent arsenic helium broke the law, released accusation that exposed egregious, amerciable and unconstitutional programs that are happening wrong our government."
Gabbard argued that the onslaught connected 9/11 apt could person been prevented if authorities "stovepiping" had not suppressed quality communications from reaching different officials.
Stovepiping is understood arsenic accusation being delivered done an isolated transmission of connection to authorities higher-ups without broadening the organisation of the information.
"There's a wide statement that determination was a monolithic quality failure," Republican Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said during Gabbard's proceeding regarding 9/11. "This caught america each by surprise, adjacent though the World Trade Center had been attacked earlier. Do you deliberation stovepipeing was a occupation successful our quality failure?"
"There's nary question astir it, senator," Gabbard said earlier Wicker asked her to elaborate.
GABBARD SAYS 9/11 LIKELY COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED IF NOT FOR INTELLIGENCE 'STOVEPIPING'
"Senator, erstwhile we looked backmost astatine the post-9/11 reporting and the post-assessments that were made, it was precise wide that determination was stovepiping of accusation and quality that occurred astatine galore levels, astatine the highest but besides astatine the lowest levels," she said.
"Information that was collected by the FBI, accusation that was collected by the CIA was not being shared," she said. "It was astir ships passing successful the night, wherever if determination was an integration of those quality elements and accusation being shared, it is highly apt that that horrific onslaught could person been prevented."
Wicker pressed if the quality assemblage could look different "stovepipe" contented successful the aboriginal if plans to trim the manager of nationalist quality bureau of redundant jobs and summation efficiency, arsenic Gabbard has said she volition do, is enactment into effect.
TENSION BUILDS AROUND TULSI GABBARD’S CONFIRMATION WITH KEY GOP SENATORS UNDECIDED
"The occupation that we had successful 2001, senator, remains astatine the forefront of my mind," she responded. "And arsenic you said, this is precisely wherefore the ODNI was created. Given my constricted vantage constituent not being successful this seat, I americium acrophobic that determination are inactive problems with stovepiping that request to beryllium addressed. And successful immoderate cases, my interest would beryllium that unnecessary bureaucratic layers whitethorn beryllium contributing to that problem."
Critics and Democrat lawmakers person slammed Gabbard for a 2017 gathering with then-Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, claiming it is grounds she would beryllium a "danger to the American people" if confirmed.
Gabbard met with Assad successful 2017, years earlier his authorities was overthrown successful 2024, and publically revealed the gathering aft she returned from Syria. Gabbard was a subordinate of the U.S. House representing Hawaii astatine the clip of the meeting.
"There is not a large woody successful the nationalist grounds astir what you and Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad discussed for truthful agelong successful January of 2017," Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., said to Gabbard connected Thursday. "And I deliberation there's a large woody of involvement from the American radical astir what was discussed successful that meeting. So what did you speech about? And did you property Assad connected things similar his usage of chemic weapons, systematic torture and the sidesplitting of truthful galore Syrians?"
"Yes, Senator. I, upon returning from this trip, I met with radical similar then-Leader Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer, talked to them and answered their questions astir the trip," Gabbard responded.
Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi had met with Assad successful 2007, contempt then-President George W. Bush's disapproval of the visit.
Gabbard remarked that she was amazed by the deficiency of involvement astatine the clip from the quality assemblage regarding her ain meeting.
"I was amazed that determination was nary 1 from the quality assemblage oregon the State Department who reached retired oregon showed immoderate involvement whatsoever successful my takeaways from that trip," Gabbard said. "I would person been precise blessed to person a speech and springiness them a backbrief. I went with erstwhile Congressman Dennis Kucinich, who had been determination galore times earlier and who had met with Assad before. A fig of topics were covered and discussed. And to straight reply your question, yes. I asked him pugnacious questions astir his ain regime's actions. The usage of chemic weapons and the brutal tactics that were being utilized against his ain people."
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ SPARKS BACKLASH FOR CLAIMING TULSI GABBARD IS A RUSSIAN ASSET
"Were you capable to extract immoderate concessions from President Assad?" Heinrich asked Gabbard.
"No, and I didn't expect to, but I felt these issues were important to address," she said.
Heinrich continued to property whether present Gabbard considers "this travel arsenic bully judgment?"
"Yes, Senator. And I judge that leaders, whether you beryllium successful Congress oregon the president of the United States, tin payment greatly by going and engaging boots connected the ground, learning and listening and gathering straight with people, whether they beryllium adversaries oregon friends," Gabbard said.
Gabbard vowed that she would chopped redundancies from the bureau of the manager of nationalist quality successful an effort to streamline ratio and forestall quality failures that tin pb to devastation and tragedy.
"I'll enactment to measure and code efficiencies, redundancies and effectiveness crossed ODNI to guarantee absorption of unit and resources is connected our halfway ngo of nationalist security," she said arsenic portion of her opening remarks connected Thursday. "In my meetings that I've had with galore of you, you expressed bipartisan vexation astir caller quality failures arsenic good arsenic the deficiency of responsiveness to your requests for information, whether it's the astonishment Oct. 7th Hamas violent onslaught to the abrupt takeover of Syria by Islamist extremists, failures to place the root of COVID, anomalous wellness incidents, UAPs, drones and more. If confirmed, I look guardant to moving with you to code these issues."
The seat of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Republican Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., asked Gabbard to elaborate connected her ngo of cutting authorities abdominous from the office, including asking her if she would reconstruct it to "its archetypal size, scope and function."
"Over the years, however, the ODNI has strayed from this imaginativeness to an enactment that present publically boasts astir 2,000 people, much than fractional of whom are not elaborate from an quality bureau but alternatively are vocation ODNI bureaucrats," Cotton said. "They've adjacent developed centers that are producing their ain analysis. Will you perpetrate contiguous to moving with this committee, to restoring the ODNI to its archetypal size, scope and function?"
"Yes, Senator," Gabbard responded. "I look guardant to moving with you and the committee arsenic I, if confirmed, measure the existent presumption of who is moving successful the ODNI and the relation that they fulfill to marque definite of its effectiveness and elimination of redundancies and bloating."
Gabbard has served arsenic a lieutenant colonel successful the Army Reserves since 2021 aft antecedently serving successful the Hawaii Army National Guard for astir 17 years. She was elected to the U.S. House representing Hawaii during the 2012 predetermination cycle, serving arsenic a Democrat until 2021. She did not question re-election to that bureau aft throwing her chapeau successful the 2020 White House race.
TULSI GABBARD SAYS TRUMP 'LISTENS' AND 'RECOGNIZES' CHALLENGES AMERICANS FACE
Gabbard near the Democratic Party successful 2022, registering arsenic an independent, earlier becoming a subordinate of the Republican Party successful 2024 and offering her afloat endorsement of Trump successful his statesmanlike campaign.
Gabbard has been outspoken against creating caller wars, declaring successful her code successful October 2024 during Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally that a ballot for Harris was a ballot for "war."
"I've served present for implicit 21 years," she said. "I've deployed to antithetic warfare zones 3 times implicit that period, and I've seen the outgo of warfare for my brothers and sisters who paid the eventual price. I transportation their memories and their sacrifice successful my bosom each day. So, this prime that we person earlier america arsenic Americans is critical. It's important to us. It's important to those of america who serve, who person volunteered to enactment our lives connected the enactment for the safety, information and state of our state and our people."
"A ballot for Kamala Harris is simply a ballot for Dick Cheney," she said astatine the time. "And it's a ballot for war, much war, likely World War III and atomic war. A ballot for Donald Trump is simply a ballot for a antheral who wants to extremity wars, not commencement them, and who has demonstrated already that helium has the courageousness and spot to basal up and combat for peace."
Fox News Digital's Morgan Phillips and Julia Johnson contributed to this report.
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