Top Senate Intelligence Dem grills Gabbard if Edward Snowden is 'brave': 'Very troubling'

"Until you are nominated by the president to be the DNI, you consistently praised the actions of Edward Snowden, someone, I believe, jeopardized the security of our nation and then, to flaunt that, fled to Russia," Warner asked of Gabbard on Thursday morning. 

"You even called Edward Snowden and I quote here, 'a brave whistleblower.' Every member of this committee supports the rights of legal whistleblowers. But Edward Snowden isn't a whistleblower, and in this case, I'm a lot closer to the chairman's words where he said Snowden is, quote, 'an egotistical serial liar and traitor' who, quote, 'deserves to rot in jail for the rest of his life.' Ms. Gabbard is simple, yes or no question. Do you still think Edward Snowden is brave?"

Gabbard pushed back that Snowden "broke the law" and does not agree with his leak of intelligence.

"I'm making myself very clear. Edward Snowden broke the law. He released information about the United States government," Gabbard continued as she defended her position. 

"If I may just finish my thoughts, Senator," Gabbard continued, as Warner spoke over her. "In this role that I've been nominated for, if confirmed as director of national intelligence, I will be responsible for protecting our nation's secrets. And I have four immediate steps that I would take to prevent another Snowden-like leak."

Gabbard has previously lauded Snowden, including during an appearance on "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast in 2019. 

"If it wasn't for Snowden, the American people would never have learned the NSA was collecting phone records and spying on Americans," she said on "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast at the time.

Fox News Digital's Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.