Aspiring spy boss Tulsi Gabbard defended most of her controversial foreign policy takes during a lively Senate hearing Thursday, including her meeting with former Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad and her prior doubts about the legitimacy of US intelligence on his use of chemical weapons against his own people.

Donald Trump’s pick to oversee 18 intelligence agencies with a $100 billion spy budget is facing renewed scrutiny over an unannounced trip to Syria in 2017 where she met with the now-deposed dictator twice.

DNI nominee Tulsi Gabbard provided additional details on her meeting with then-Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in 2017, while appearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Trump’s nominee for director of intelligence said, under oath, that she was not aware “until today” that a prominent cleric she met in Syria threatened to unleash suicide bombers in the United States.

Senators remain concerned about Tulsi Gabbard’s foreign contacts. In addition to meeting in 2017 with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad—who recently fled his country amid a rebel insurgency—Gabbard mig

Gabbard’s 2017 trip to Syria, where she met with authoritarian leader Bashar al-Assad, is expected to be a focus of questions from senators weighing her nomination to be director of national intelligence.

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.

Tulsi Gabbard, Donald Trump's nominee for Director of National Intelligence, testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday.

Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard was grilled on Capitol Hill Thursday and one Republican is worried her nomination as Director of National Intelligence could be in “jeopardy.” Senator […]

Yesterday from the White House podium, Trump blamed DEI programs for Wednesday night’s terrible aviation disaster in Washington. This was an utter invention by Trump. But brazen lying is part of the authoritarian playbook, and he ran the play shamelessly.

NPR speaks with Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, about the confirmation hearing for Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's pick to lead national intelligence.