Five takeaways from Gabbard and Patel's confirmation hearings

Several of President Donald Trump's cabinet nominees faced tough questioning from Republicans and Democrats alike during hours-long confirmation hearings on Thursday.

Former Democrat and military veteran Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's pick to be director of national intelligence was grilled about her past remarks supporting government whistleblower Edward Snowden as well as her relationships with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syria's former dictator Bashar al-Assad.

Trump's nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel, a former federal prosecutor and Trump administration aide was pressed on his prior comments praising those involved in the 6 January Capitol riots as well as his ties to the QAnon movement.

Here are some of the most memorable moments of the heated hearings.

Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii who ran for her party's presidential nomination in 2020 before ditching the party and endorsing Trump in 2024, faced sharp questions about her past remarks about Russia's war in Ukraine. She has been accused of repeating Russian propaganda to justify Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

At one point during the hearing, Democratic Senator Michael Bennet read several of Gabbard's previous comments out loud, including when she said Putin had "legitimate security concerns" over Nato expansion in Eastern Europe.

The Colorado lawmaker accused Gabbard of agreeing that a "totalitarian state" was "justified in rolling over the peaceful border of Ukraine".

He noted that Russian state TV aired her comments and called her "our friend Tulsi".

Gabbard, a lieutenant colonel in the National Guard who was twice deployed to the Middle East, has no formal intelligence experience.

Both Republicans and Democrats quizzed Gabbard about her support for Edward Snowden, the National Security Agency whistleblower who leaked millions of classified documents that he alleged showed the US was conducting illegal surveillance of its citizens.

Critics said the leaks threatened American national security.

Lawmakers asked Gabbard multiple times whether she considered Snowden - someone whom she has previously called "brave" and argued should be pardoned for his crimes - a traitor to the US.

Gabbard dug in her heels on the matter, refusing to give a yes or no answer and making the moment uneasy for several Republicans.

"Snowden broke the law," she told lawmakers. "He released information about the United States … I have more immediate steps that I would take to prevent another Snowden."

Gabbard also faced scrutiny for a 2017 visit to Syria to meet then-President Bashar al-Assad.

The trip came after the US government demanded Assad step down because of his government's attacks against its civilians, including with chemical weapons. Her trip drew criticism from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle at the time.

At the hearing on Thursday, Gabbard told lawmakers that she asked Assad "tough questions about his own regime's actions".

She also attempted to pre-emptively address incoming attacks over the visit, saying in her opening remarks: "I have no love for Assad or Gaddafi or any dictator."

Gabbard added that she "shed no tears for the fall of the Assad regime" in December, when armed rebels took over the Syrian city of Damascus.

"But today we have an Islamist extremist who is now in charge of Syria," she said.

During Patel's five-hour hearing following Gabbard's on Thursday, the former prosecutor came under fire for his previous support for Capitol rioters.

He once helped promote sales of a charity song recorded by the 6 January rioters in prison, including some who had been convicted of violence against police officers.

Several Democratic senators tried to push Patel about his ties to the rioters.

"Was President Donald Trump wrong to give blanket clemency to the January 6 defendants?" Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois asked.

"I have always rejected any violence against law enforcement, including in that group, any violence against law enforcement on January 6," Patel responded.

Still at several points, Patel declined to criticise Trump's pardon of rioters who assaulted officers.

Patel, a outspoken critic of the agency he's been tapped to lead and a Trump loyalist, struck a more moderate tone on Thursday compared to some of his previous comments.

Explaining his criticisms of the FBI, Patel pointed to public opinion surveys that show declining confidence in the agency and highlighted two priorities, including tackling violent crime, which he said was "exploding in this country".

If confirmed, he said, "I will remain focused on the FBI's core mission, that is to investigate fully wherever there is a constitutional factual basis to do so".

But Democrats continued to press him on his previous statements and activities.

Patel wrote a book called Government Gangsters, laying out his theories about a so-called "deep state" targeting Trump.

He has also expressed sympathy with the QAnon movement – a conspiracy theory which broadly speaking claims that a ring of satanic paedophiles operates inside the highest levels of government, media and business.