Tulsi Gabbard explains why she won’t call Edward Snowden a ‘traitor’ ahead of tough committee vote
Gabbard admitted Snowden’s leak ‘harmed our national security,’ but also ‘revealed illegal and unconstitutional government programs’
Published February 4, 2025 10:53am EST
Tulsi Gabbard appears to be seeking to assuage senators’ concerns about her nomination in a new opinion piece explaining why she thought “traitor” was too harsh a word for Edward Snowden.
Gabbard, President Donald Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence (DNI), did not endorse Snowden’s whistleblowing actions during her confirmation hearing, but her refusal to call him a traitor left some Republicans unsettled.
She admitted that Snowden’s release of classified information to the media “harmed our national security” but also “revealed illegal and unconstitutional government programs that conducted mass surveillance of millions of Americans’ data.”
