Key takeaways from Tulsi Gabbard’s US Senate confirmation hearing

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.

Gabbard, a former democratic congresswoman from Hawaii, has spoken out against an 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. Additionally, she would provide security-related briefings and recommendations to the president.

One of Trump’s many contentious nominees for important positions is Gabbard. But with a 53-seat majority in the 100-member Senate, Republicans are expected to confirm all of Trump’s picks.

On Thursday, Gabbard had her first test as a nominee before skeptical Senate Intelligence Committee members. What are some important lessons learned from the hearing:

Snowden, Snowden, Snowden

Gabbard’s prior statements backing Snowden, a former contractor for the National Security Agency who leaked documents about US government surveillance programs were made by several Democrats and some Republicans on the panel.

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. Senator Michael Bennet repeatedly questioned her about whether Snowden was a traitor.

The former congresswoman declined to say that. She straddled the line by blatantly stating that Snowden had broken the law, that she had not condoned his actions in his entirety, and that she had.

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

Today, Tulsi Gabbard will have to requisition that he disapprove of any prior support for whistleblowers. She should follow my advice. Tell them I hurt staff and national security. In D. C., that’s what passes for the pledge of allegiance. pic. twitter.com/Z1OmOHgvdU

Al-Assad meeting

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

At the same time as the US was urging him to resign over atrocities committed by his government, Gabbard met with al-Assad.

She said, “I questioned him about the brutal tactics being used against his own people, the use of chemical weapons, and his own regime.”

Hezbollah representatives were not contacted by Gabbard while he was in Lebanon.

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

“I think leaders, whether you’re in Congress or the president of the United States,” she said, “can greatly benefit from going to and engaging boots on the ground, learning, listening, and meeting directly with people, whether they’re friends or adversaries.”

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 referred to al-Assad’s assassination as “the sudden annexation 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. Ahmed al-Sharaa, the HTS leader, is now Syria’s transitional leader.

Al-Sharaa was previously offered as reward for being captured by the US, but that offer was voided after US officials visited him in Damascus in December.

Pro-Trump message

Trump’s claim that intelligence officials targeted him was amplified by Gabbard’s nod in her opening remarks amplifies the president’s nomination.

She cited the foreign surveillance warrant used by authorities to look into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia before the 2016 elections.

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

His supporters “politized” his presidency and falsely cast him as a puppet of Putin, according to his supporters.

She pledged to deliver “unbiased” findings to Trump, saying “weaponised” intelligence can lead to terrible consequences. Gambard cited the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, which was motivated by false information about the country’s use of WMDs.

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

Source: Aljazeera