Trump’s pick Tulsi Gabbard backtracks on pardoning Snowden in Senate

Tulsi Gabbard, Donald Trump’s nominee for Director of National Intelligence, faced sharp questioning from lawmakers during her Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday. A key issue was her past support for Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor who exposed US surveillance programmes and fled to Russia. She said she would not recommend a pardon for Snowden, whom she had earlier called ‘brave’.