Senator Warns Tulsi Gabbard’s Answer On Edward Snowden May Cost Her Being Confirmed

Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) said during an interview over the weekend that former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s refusal to call Edward Snowden a traitor during her confirmation hearing last week could end up costing her.

Warner made the remarks during a Sunday interview with CBS News’ “Face The Nation” when asked by leftist host Margaret Brenna what Republicans senators are saying privately about her nomination.

“Edward Snowden released more information — probably did as much damage to our intelligence community as anyone in history,” Warner said. “And the fact that Ms. Gabbard — who actually had legislation to pardon Edward Snowden, she called him a brave whistleblower — couldn’t bring herself to call him a traitor, I think is disqualifying just on plain judgment.”

“What would that signal if she got in, would that send to the IC workers or contractors? Is she going to suddenly enforce the law if she called Snowden a brave whistleblower?” he asked. “And what I’m particularly concerned about is our sharing of information with our allies, that’s not written into law, that’s based on trust.”

“Will they really trust to share their intelligence with us if she can’t call out one of the worst traitors in recent American history as such, as a traitor?” he added.

He said that the Senate Intelligence Committee has historically been the most bipartisan committee in the U.S. Senate and that those who serve on the committee often will resist pressure from their own parties.

“But it’s not just Snowden, America’s most powerful intelligence tool is something we call Section 702, she left us totally confused on her views on that,” he continued. “And as well, her lack of judgment, whether it’s going to visit Assad when he was head of Syria, whether it was taking trips paid for by sketchy groups or echoing Putin’s comments somehow NATO started the war in Ukraine, that is not the judgment of somebody that would run 18 intelligence communities — agencies.”

WATCH:

Tulsi Gabbard’s refusal to call Edward Snowden a “traitor” in her director of national intelligence confirmation hearings is “disqualifying just on plain judgment,” says Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA).

He wonders if U.S. allies will “trust to share their intelligence with us if she… pic.twitter.com/oiT7ALWvlE

— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) February 2, 2025