Trump's nominees for national intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard and FBI director Kash Patel faced tough questions by U.S. Senate committee members during their confirmation hearings on Thursday.
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00:00U.S. President Donald Trump's picks for national intelligence director and head of the FBI
00:06defended their positions and the president before members of the Senate.
00:11The American people elected Donald Trump as their president not once but twice, and yet
00:15the FBI and intelligence agencies were politicized by his opponents to undermine his presidency
00:21and falsely portray him as a puppet of Putin.
00:26Former Congress member Tulsi Gabbard once clashed with the U.S. intelligence community
00:30over her defense of whistleblower Edward Snowden, who exposed a sweeping surveillance program
00:35and now lives in exile in Russia.
00:38At her confirmation hearing, she said she would not pardon Snowden.
00:42Trump's pick for FBI Director Kash Patel previously held senior roles in national security, defense
00:48and intelligence during Trump's first term as president.
00:52At his hearing, Patel was pressed on whether he would allow the FBI to be weaponized against
00:57Trump's so-called political enemies.
00:59Those include former Vice President Kamala Harris and retired General Mark Milley.
01:05Vice President Harris, Kamala Harris or General Milley or anyone otherwise will not be subjected
01:10to an FBI investigation that doesn't meet the rigorous standards of the Constitution.