Gabbard was questioned by Republicans and Democrats alike on her views of Snowden and whether she believes he was a traitor. She declined to say she believed he was a traitor, repeating that she felt he had broken the law and reiterating a point that she has made in the past, that he exposed practices that have resulted in the reform of 702.

In 2020, then-Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard introduced legislation calling on the federal government to drop all charges against Edward Snowden, the National Security Agency contractor who in 2013 revealed the existence of the bulk collection of American phone records by the NSA before fleeing to Russia.

Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he was “surprised” that director of national intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard refused to call former NSA contractor Edward Snowden a “traitor” after being repeatedly pressed on the question at a Thursday hearing.