Former Congresswoman Lieutenant Colonel Tulsi Gabbard stood firm during her confirmation hearing on Thursday, refusing to label Edward Snowden a traitor despite pressure from senators on both sides of the aisle.
Her stance on Snowden, a former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor who leaked classified information, has raised concerns among lawmakers and may complicate her confirmation as President Trump’s pick for Director of National Intelligence. Gabbard has previously defended Snowden and introduced legislation in his favor, positions that have made her a target of scrutiny.
Edward Snowden’s leaks in 2013 exposed a vast, unconstitutional surveillance apparatus run by the US government. The classified documents he revealed showed that the NSA was illegally spying on American citizens, collecting their phone records, emails, and internet activity without warrants or probable cause.
One of the most alarming programs Snowden uncovered was PRISM, which allowed the NSA to directly access data from major tech companies like Google, Facebook, and Microsoft, harvesting private communications, including messages, emails, and video calls. Another program, Upstream, intercepted internet traffic in bulk as it flowed through fiber-optic cables. These programs operated in direct violation of the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable searches and seizures.
Additionally, Snowden’s leaks revealed that the NSA was not only targeting suspected terrorists or foreign spies but was indiscriminately and secretly collecting data on millions of innocent Americans. The government had secretly forced telecom providers like Verizon to hand over records of all domestic calls, regardless of whether the individuals had any connection to criminal activity. […]
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