Tulsi Gabbard faced tough questions Thursday about past comments about Russia, Syria and government leaker Edward Snowden during a Senate confirmation hearing on her nomination to lead the U.S. intell

Among the topics that came up: her stance on an electronic surveillance program, her push to drop charges against Edward Snowden and her 2017 meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Critics blasted the meeting as legitimizing Assad four years after he used lethal chemical weapons on Syrian civilians. "It was common knowledge that Assad was gassing the civilian population,