The tragic plane crash in the Potomac understandably sidelined coverage of Thursday’s congressional confirmation hearings on the major networks, but that evening’s PBS News Hour ran full stories on the hearings for Kash Patel to head the FBI, former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard Democrat congresswoman from Hawaii turned Republican) for Director of National Intelligence, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Health and Human Services.
But Gabbard perhaps got the worst of it, with tough questioning about past comments on Syrian dictator Assad and especially her support of classified document leaker Edward Snowden, now in exile in Putin’s Russia, as a government “whistleblower.” PBS reporter Nick Schifrin eagerly emphasized senators calling Snowden a "traitor" during Gabbard's confirmation hearing, painting Snowden as a thorn in a Trump nominee’s side.
