DNI nominee Tulsi Gabbard provided additional details on her meeting with then-Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in 2017 while appearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Asked by Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich about her 2017 trip to the Middle Eastern country, Gabbard said she met with al-Assad and "asked him tough questions about his own regime's actions," including the "use of chemical weapons and brutal tactics being used against his own people."

Senators remain concerned about Tulsi Gabbard’s foreign contacts. In addition to meeting in 2017 with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad—who recently fled his country amid a rebel insurgency—Gabbard mig

Tulsi Gabbard says she now supports surveillance she once tried to end. The issue could decide whether she's confirmed as director of national intelligence.

The nominee for director of national intelligence espoused provocative takes on foreign policy during public appearances. Senators are expected to challenge some of those in her confirmation hearing.

Tulsi Gabbard, President Trump's nominee to serve as the director of national intelligence, will testify Thursday morning at a confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee. The 43-year-old former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii and combat veteran would oversee the nation's 18 spy agencies.

Ahead of a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing Thursday, the fate of Gabbard’s nomination rests in the hands of a small handful of undecided GOP senators: Maine’s Susan Collins, Indiana’s Todd Young, Kentucky’s Mitch McConnell and Utah’s John Curtis.

Among the topics likely to come up at the hearing: her 2017 meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, her friendly positions toward Russia and her push to drop charges against Edward Snowden.

Tulsi Gabbard as President Donald Trump’s nominee for director of national intelligence—the latest controversial Trump cabinet pick to face Senate scrutiny as some Republicans have expressed unease about Gabbard’s controversial worldviews.

The former Hawaii congresswoman isn’t just unqualified to be director of national intelligence, she’s a political opportunist.

Watch live as Tulsi Gabbard, President Donald Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence, faces questions in her Senate confirmation hearing.