周二下午，参议院情报委员会在闭门会议上投票通过了前众议员塔尔西·加巴德(Tulsi Gabbard)担任国家情报总监的提名。
据离开会议的参议员说，加巴德在9比8的投票中沿着政党路线前进。据知情人士透露，所有共和党人都投票支持加巴德，而所有民主党人都反对她。
投票之前，加巴德上周四在国会山举行了不时引发争议的确认听证会，在听证会上，她被问及对政府机密泄密者爱德华·斯诺登的看法，以及她拒绝给他贴上叛徒的标签。
参议院多数党领袖约翰·图恩现在可以开始将她的提名提交全院审议。最终投票可能会在本周晚些时候或下周初举行。
加巴德是前民主党夏威夷州国会议员，后转为共和党人。周一，他从参议员苏珊·科林斯、詹姆斯·兰克福德(James Lankford)和托德·杨(Todd Young)那里获得了三张关键的共和党选票。他们之前一直批评她过去关于斯诺登的声明以及她对政府监控项目的反对。加巴德在委员会中只能失去一张共和党的选票。
在周四的听证会上，两党议员一再向加巴德施压，要求她否认过去对斯诺登的支持。斯诺登是一名前情报承包商，带着超过100万份机密记录逃离了美国。加巴德此前将斯诺登描述为一名“勇敢的”告密者，他揭露了情报界侵犯公民自由的行为。在国会期间，她提出了一项立法，称“斯诺登向记者披露该项目符合公共利益，联邦政府应该撤销所有指控。”
尽管加巴德一再声明斯诺登“违反了法律”，但她并没有从之前的声明中退缩，并拒绝称他为“叛徒”，尽管两党参议员多次询问她。
上周末，在《新闻周刊》的一篇专栏文章中，加巴德写道，她在听证会的闭门会议上解释了为什么她拒绝这样称呼他。
“叛国罪是死罪，可处以死刑，但前国务卿希拉里和前美国参议员米特·罗姆尼等政客用毫无根据的叛国罪指控诽谤我、小唐纳德·特朗普和其他人。关注事实而不是标签是至关重要的。斯诺登本应通过授权渠道，如监察长或情报委员会，提出他对非法监控的担忧，而不是向媒体泄露。”
加巴德还提出了一项四点计划，以防止未来出现类似斯诺登的泄露，其中包括监督以确保没有非法的情报收集计划，尽量减少对敏感情报的接触，向政府工作人员告知举报者的法律选择，以及为举报者建立一条热线以直接联系加巴德。
几位参议员质疑加巴德过去根据《外国情报监控法》(FISA)第702条反对政府监控项目，该法案允许美国政府在没有搜查令的情况下收集境外非美国人的电子通信。作为国会议员，加巴德投票反对该条款，她表示，自她离任以来，对该项目所做的改变足以赢得她的支持。
加巴德面临着确认唐纳德·特朗普总统所有内阁人选的最困难的途径。她不能失去委员会中任何共和党人的选票。她的提名预计将在周二的闭门确认会议上进行投票。
一位了解该程序的消息人士告诉美国广播公司新闻，新确认的中央情报局局长约翰·拉特克利夫，前国家安全局顾问罗伯特·奥布莱恩和前参议员理查德·伯尔(前参议院情报委员会主席)一直在代表加巴德打电话给参议员。一位消息人士称，加巴德在听证会后也与参议员进行了交谈。
上周末，扬面临来自加巴德和特朗普盟友的压力，但周二，扬宣布他将支持她。据信，扬是加巴德提名从委员会进入参议院所需的最后一张关键票。
“我已经做了制宪者为参议员设想的事情:利用协商进程寻求坚定的承诺，在这种情况下，这些承诺将推进我们的国家安全，这是我作为前海军陆战队情报官员的首要任务，”杨发布道。“现在得到了这些承诺，我将支持对塔尔西的提名，并期待着与她一起保护我们的国家安全。”
在X ahead上周末发布的一篇现已被删除的帖子中，埃隆·马斯克称扬是一个“深层次的国家傀儡”。然而，几个小时后，马斯克删除了这条帖子，并表示，“刚刚与@SenToddYoung进行了一次精彩的对话。我承认错误。在将权力从庞大的、未经选举的官僚体系中还给人民的问题上，参议员杨将是一个伟大的盟友。”
加巴德的亲密盟友梅根·麦凯恩(Meghan McCain)周末也表达了她的支持，她发帖说:“任何投票反对@TulsiGabbard支持DNI的参议员不仅仅是与MAGA和Trump有问题——我将把在你的下一次选举中帮助竞选和筹款作为我的个人使命。我的人民可能和他们的人民很像，”她补充道。
杨在总统竞选中没有支持特朗普，她在听证会上与加巴德进行了激烈的交流。
“(斯诺登)背叛了美国人民的信任吗?”杨问道。
“爱德华·斯诺登违反了法律，”加巴德回应道，“他以一种不应该的方式发布了这些信息。”
Senate committee advances Tulsi Gabbard's nomination to be intel chief
The Senate Intelligence Committee voted to advance former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard's nomination for director of national intelligence in a closed-door session on Tuesday afternoon.
Gabbard advanced in a 9-8 vote along party lines, according to senators leaving the meeting. All Republicans voted in favor of Gabbard while all Democrats opposed her, according to a source familiar with the vote.
The vote followed Gabbard's at-times contentious confirmation hearings on Capitol Hill last Thursday, where she was grilled over her views on government secrets leaker Edward Snowden and her refusal to label him a traitor.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune can now begin to move her nomination to the full floor for consideration. A final vote will likely take place later this week or early next week.
Gabbard, a former Democratic Hawaii member of Congress turned Republican, picked up three key Republican votes on Monday from Sens. Susan Collins, James Lankford and Todd Young. They had previously been critical of her past statements on Snowden and her opposition to government surveillance programs. Gabbard can only afford to lose one Republican vote on the committee.
During Thursday's hearing, lawmakers from both parties repeatedly pressed Gabbard to disavow her past support of Snowden, a former intelligence contractor who fled the country with more than 1 million classified records. Gabbard previously described Snowden as a "brave" whistleblower who exposed civil liberties violations by the intelligence community. While in Congress, she introduced legislation stating that "Snowden's disclosure of this program to journalists was in the public interest, and the Federal Government should drop all charges."
While Gabbard repeatedly stated that Snowden "broke the law," she did not back away from her previous statements and refused to call him a "traitor" despite being asked several times by senators from both parties.
In an op-ed in Newsweek over the weekend, Gabbard wrote that she explained in the closed session in her confirmation hearing why she refused to call him that.
"Treason is a capital offense, punishable by death, yet politicians like former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former US Senator Mitt Romney have slandered me, Donald Trump Jr. and others with baseless accusations of treason. It is essential to focus on the facts, not the label. Snowden should have raised his concerns about illegal surveillance through authorized channels, such as the Inspector General or the Intelligence Committee, instead of leaking to the media."
Gabbard also presented a four-point plan to prevent future Snowden-like leaks, which includes oversight to ensure there are no illegal intelligence collection programs, minimizing access to sensitive intelligence, informing government workers about legal options for whistleblowers, and creating a hotline for whistleblowers to contact Gabbard directly.
Several senators questioned Gabbard's past opposition to government surveillance programs under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which allows the U.S. government to collect electronic communications of non-Americans outside the country without a warrant. Gabbard, who voted against the provision as a member of Congress, said changes made to the program since she left office were enough to earn her support.
Gabbard faces perhaps the most difficult route to confirmation of all of President Donald Trump's Cabinet picks. She cannot afford to lose any Republican votes in the committee. Her nomination is expected to be voted on during a closed-door confirmation session on Tuesday.
A source with knowledge of the proceedings told ABC News that newly confirmed CIA Director John Ratcliffe, former NSA adviser Robert O'Brien and former Sen. Richard Burr, a former Senate Intelligence Committee chairman, have been making calls to senators on Gabbard's behalf. Gabbard has also talked to senators since her hearing, a source said.
Over the weekend, Young faced pressure from Gabbard and Trump allies, but on Tuesday, Young, who was believed to be the final key vote needed for Gabbard's nomination to move from the committee to the Senate floor, announced he would support her.
"I have done what the Framers envisioned for senators to do: use the consultative process to seek firm commitments, in this case commitments that will advance our national security, which is my top priority as a former Marine Corps intelligence officer," Young posted. "Having now secured these commitments, I will support Tulsi's nomination and look forward to working with her to protect our national security."
In a now-deleted post on X ahead over the weekend, Elon Musk said Young was a "deep state puppet." However, hours later, Musk deleted the post and said, "Just had an excellent conversation with @SenToddYoung. I stand corrected. Senator Young will be a great ally in restoring power to the people from the vast, unelected bureaucracy."
Meghan McCain, a close ally of Gabbard, also voiced her support over the weekend, posting, "Any Senator who votes against @TulsiGabbard for DNI isn't just going to have a problem with MAGA and Trump - I will make it my personal mission to help campaign and fundraise against you in your next election. And my people are probably a lot like their people," she added.
Young, who did not endorse Trump in his presidential campaign, had a heated exchange with Gabbard during her hearing.
"Did [Snowden] betray the trust of the American people?" Young asked.
"Edward Snowden broke the law," Gabbard responded, "and he released this information in a way that he should not have."
