Former US Representative Tulsi Gabbard, nominated by President Donald Trump to be Director of National Intelligence (DNI), squared off Thursday, January 30 against a Democratic-led Senate Intelligence Committee in a tense confirmation hearing.

Senator Tom Cotton is a Republican of Arkansas and serves as chair for the committee, but started the hearing by asserting that Gabbard’s nomination had created lots of interest, though ensuring the same professionalism extended to all nominees would characterize the process.

However, the hearing quickly turned contentious when Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat from Virginia and vice-chair of the committee, expressed reservations about Gabbard’s qualifications for the DNI position. Warner criticized her judgment and said she was not qualified to oversee US intelligence efforts, pointing to statements she made defending Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor who leaked classified information. She refused to say whether she still believed Snowden was “brave” and worthy of a pardon. “While he certainly broke the law, it is clear that what he did revealed significant wrongdoing in the intelligence community,” she said.

During her opening statement, Gabbard severely lambasted past intelligence leaders for politicizing the intelligence community and damaging public trust. She thanked Trump for nominating her at a time when the credibility of the intelligence community was in crisis.

Deflecting accusations of being a puppet for various foreign powers, including Russia’s Putin, Syria’s Assad, and India’s Modi, Gabbard said that the real threat to her opponents was her independence. She reiterated her commitment to US interests, distancing herself from dictators and Islamist extremists, whom she criticized for receiving undue support from Western leaders.