{"id":2397165,"date":"2025-01-30T17:03:02","date_gmt":"2025-01-30T22:03:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gabbards-critics-arent-interested-in-fixing-us-spy-agencies\/"},"modified":"2025-01-30T17:04:30","modified_gmt":"2025-01-30T22:04:30","slug":"gabbards-critics-arent-interested-in-fixing-us-spy-agencies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gabbards-critics-arent-interested-in-fixing-us-spy-agencies\/","title":{"rendered":"Gabbard&#8217;s Critics Aren&#8217;t Interested In Fixing US Spy Agencies"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fgabbards-critics-arent-interested-in-fixing-us-spy-agencies%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2397165&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>In her \u2064Senate confirmation hearing \u2064too led the \u200boffice\u200d of the Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard faced intense scrutiny for her views on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and its \u200dimplications for civil liberties. \u2062Historically\u200c critical \u2062of America\u2019s surveillance practices, \u2062Gabbard was pressed by \u2063senators, including mark \u2063warner, John \u2063Cornyn, and mike Rounds,\u2063 to provide\u200d a robust defence of FISA, particularly Section 702, which allows the collection of communications \u200bwithout a warrant under certain \u2063circumstances.\u200c <\/p>\n<p>Gabbard\u2062 has previously co-sponsored legislation aiming\u2064 to reform FISA\u2064 and has changed her public stance on the act, which led to questions\u2064 about her evolving position. In the hearing, while she acknowledged \u200cthe necessity of\u200b FISA\u200b for national security, she\u2064 emphasized the\u2063 need \u200bfor safeguards \u200cto protect civil liberties.<\/p>\n<p>Another\u2064 contentious topic was the actions of whistleblower Edward Snowden, which senators compelled \u2064Gabbard to address.\u2063 While she\u200b acknowledged that snowden exposed \u2062significant\u2063 issues within\u2064 U.S. intelligence practices, \u2062she maintained that he broke the law and would not call for a \u200dpardon.\u2063 critics highlighted the \u200bhearing&#8217;s lack\u200b of focus on the documented \u2063abuses \u2063by intelligence agencies\u2064 and the failure of senators\u2063 to seek meaningful reforms to curb the politicization \u200bof these agencies,\u2064 portraying a concern for protecting established\u2062 practices\u200c over <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/johns-hopkins-rebrands-citizenship-to-colonialism-at-critical-studies-center\/\" title=\"Johns Hopkins renames &#039;citizenship&#039; as &#039;colonialism&#039; at critical studies center\">addressing \u200dsystemic issues<\/a> in surveillance and civil liberties.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>President Trump&rsquo;s pick to lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, has never been shy about sharing her <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/08\/07\/watchdog-demands-dhs-inspector-general-investigate-new-abuses-of-surveillance-state\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">criticisms<\/a> of America&rsquo;s surveillance state. So, it came as no surprise when some of its biggest defenders grilled her on the subject during her Thursday <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=H1OYYRWgJxc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Senate confirmation hearing<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>While testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Gabbard was repeatedly pressed by senators to offer a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/n-y-gov-cuomo-doubles-down-on-nursing-home-covid-orders\/\" title=\"N.Y. Gov. Cuomo doubles down on nursing home COVID orders\">full-throated defense<\/a> of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which intel agencies abused to spy on unsuspecting Americans and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/08\/07\/watchdog-demands-dhs-inspector-general-investigate-new-abuses-of-surveillance-state\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">surveil<\/a> Trump&rsquo;s 2016 campaign. <\/p>\n<p>As The Federalist&rsquo;s Logan Washburn recently <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/01\/16\/top-senate-republicans-ask-bondi-to-support-a-fisa-system-that-spies-on-americans\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>, &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.intel.gov\/foreign-intelligence-surveillance-act\/1237-fisa-section-702\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Section 702<\/a>&nbsp;of the legislation allows federal agencies to collect communications of noncitizens, outside the country,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2024\/04\/20\/1246076114\/senate-passes-reauthorization-surveillance-program-fisa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">without a warrant<\/a>.&rdquo; It furthermore &ldquo;supposedly bars the government from spying on Americans,&rdquo; Washburn noted, &ldquo;but the CIA was&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/02\/17\/the-cia-got-caught-spying-on-americans-again-its-time-for-congress-to-make-them-stop\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">caught<\/a>&nbsp;in 2022 using the law &mdash; which Congressional Republicans <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/congress\/house-votes-renew-fisa-spying-tool-earlier-republican-revolt-rcna147557\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reauthorized<\/a> last year &mdash; to spy on Americans.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>While serving in Congress, Gabbard <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/08\/07\/watchdog-demands-dhs-inspector-general-investigate-new-abuses-of-surveillance-state\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">co-sponsored<\/a> legislation alongside Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., that sought to reform FISA and revoke the Patriot Act. She has since been all but forced to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/tulsi-gabbard-changes-tune-controversial-212927759.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">change<\/a>&nbsp;her position on FISA, seemingly to gain support from some Republican senators.<\/p>\n<p>Gabbard was asked about her evolving position on the law by the committee&rsquo;s ranking member, Sen. <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/mark-warner\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mark Warner<\/a>, D-Va. Yet when Gabbard attempted to answer Warner&rsquo;s question about which FISA Section 702 reforms she supports, the Virginia Democrat cut her off and wouldn&rsquo;t allow her to finish.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<blockquote data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<div lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<p>SENATOR MARK WARNER: Ms. Gabbard, I ask you a question, please give me the courtesy of answering. What reforms were made to FISA Section 702 that you support?<\/p>\n<p>TULSI GABBARD: There are a number of reforms, including-<\/p>\n<p>WARNER: In the new bill? In the new law right?-<\/p>\n<p>GABBARD:&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/33CByITKku\">pic.twitter.com\/33CByITKku<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&mdash; Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/EricLDaugh\/status\/1884995864717828461?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 30, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>It wasn&rsquo;t only Warner who drilled the Army veteran on her shifting views on FISA. GOP Sens. <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/john-cornyn\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">John Cornyn<\/a> of Texas and <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/mike-rounds\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mike Rounds<\/a> of South Dakota seemingly attempted to gently bully Gabbard into defending the law.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I want to give you an opportunity in front of this committee, to share your position, in your own words, about &hellip; how much it is needed with regard to the continuation of [FISA] 702 and your support for it,&rdquo; Rounds said. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There are a number of, of areas that we would be blind from a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/former-director-of-national-intelligence-joe-biden-is-greatest-national-security-threat-we-face\/\" title=\"Former Director Of National Intelligence: Joe Biden Is \u2018Greatest National Security Threat\u2019 We Face\">national security perspective<\/a> without this capability. It also must exist next to having safeguards in place to ensure Americans&rsquo; civil liberties are protected,&rdquo; Gabbard replied.<\/p>\n<p><strong>[READ:[READ:<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/01\/16\/top-senate-republicans-ask-bondi-to-support-a-fisa-system-that-spies-on-americans\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Top Senate Republicans Ask Bondi To Support A FISA System That Spies On Americans<\/a>]<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Defense of FISA was hardly the only topic Gabbard was grilled on during Thursday&rsquo;s hearing. Senators also repeatedly brought up the 2013 leaking of classified information by then-National Security Agency intelligence contractor and whistleblower <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/edward-snowden\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Edward Snowden<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>As Rachel Bovard previously <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/02\/17\/the-cia-got-caught-spying-on-americans-again-its-time-for-congress-to-make-them-stop\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wrote<\/a> in these pages, Snowden unearthed the existence of the PRISM program, &ldquo;a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">constitutionally dubious surveillance program&#038;rdquo<\/a>; used by U.S. intel agencies to &ldquo;gather and search through the emails, internet calls, photos, and chats of Americans without obtaining a warrant, usually through the backdoor of America&rsquo;s major tech companies.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>When <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/BehizyTweets\/status\/1884997083750371388\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pressed<\/a> by Warner on whether she believes what Snowden did was &ldquo;brave,&rdquo; Gabbard maintained Snowden &ldquo;broke the law,&rdquo; and that she does &ldquo;not agree with or support with all of the information and intelligence that he released, nor the way he in which he did it.&rdquo; She subsequently noted, however, that Snowden &ldquo;also &hellip; released information that exposed egregious, illegal, and unconstitutional programs that are happening within our government that led to serious reforms that Congress undertook.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Gabbard &mdash; who has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/top-senate-intelligence-dem-grills-gabbard-edward-snowden-brave-very-troubling\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">previously praised<\/a> Snowden for his actions &mdash; also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/world\/americas\/us-politics\/tulsi-gabbard-confirmation-hearing-snowden-b2689430.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">told<\/a> Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, that she would not advocate for Snowden to receive a pardon if confirmed as DNI. <\/p>\n<p>Those answers apparently weren&rsquo;t good enough for Sens. <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/james-lankford\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">James Lankford<\/a>, R-Okla., <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/todd-young\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Todd Young<\/a>, R-Ind., and <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/michael-bennet\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Michael Bennet<\/a>, D-Colo., all of whom effectively hounded Gabbard to disavow Snowden as a &ldquo;traitor.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Whatever one&rsquo;s thoughts on Snowden and his actions, the committee&rsquo;s obsession with the subject and its defending FISA without giving attention to the many documented abuses by America&rsquo;s intel agencies are appalling. Americans have been victimized by these highly politicized agencies, many of which have clearly redirected their focus from targeting foreign adversaries to targeting Democrats&rsquo; domestic political opponents.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to spying on Trump&rsquo;s 2016 campaign, agencies such as the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/fbi\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">FBI<\/a> were instrumental in fomenting the debunked <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/russia-collusion-hoax\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Russia collusion hoax<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/01\/02\/heres-who-bidens-fbi-decided-to-persecute-rather-than-hunt-down-real-terrorists\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">spying<\/a> on Catholics, targeting Trump supporters and parents at school board meetings, arresting pro-lifers, and partaking in a <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/intel-agencies\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">whole host<\/a> of <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/category\/law\/corruption\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">other<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/intelligence-agencies\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">egregious abuses<\/a>. And who could forget the infamous letter <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/01\/20\/trump-yanks-security-clearances-of-intel-officials-who-spread-disinformation-about-hunter-bidens-laptop\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">signed<\/a> by 51 former intel officials, who falsely claimed contents from Hunter Biden&rsquo;s laptop exposing the Biden family&rsquo;s foreign business dealings were part of a Russian &ldquo;disinformation&rdquo; campaign.<\/p>\n<p>That so many elected senators &mdash; particularly <em>Republican<\/em> ones &mdash; would largely fail to ask Gabbard how she would reverse such politicization and prevent it from happening in the future is a disgrace. If anything, it&rsquo;s a silent admission that they&rsquo;re much more interested in protecting these broken agencies than reforming them. <\/p>\n<p>Gabbard is absolutely right to be skeptical of the vast surveillance powers wielded by America&rsquo;s intel apparatus. Any &ldquo;Republican&rdquo; who isn&rsquo;t has no business being in public office. <\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tulsi Gabbard, Trump&#8217;s nominee for DNI, faced tough questions on surveillance during her Senate hearing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2397166,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Tulsi-Gabbard-1.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[4365,3927,23344,49524],"class_list":["post-2397165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-critics","tag-gabbard","tag-national-security","tag-us-spy-agencies"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Tulsi-Gabbard-1.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2397165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2397165"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2397165\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2397169,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2397165\/revisions\/2397169"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2397166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2397165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2397165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2397165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}