Despite their best efforts, Senators could not get Donald Trump's nominee for director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, to condemn whistleblower Edward Snowden during a hearing Thursday.

Gabbard, a longtime critic of mass surveillance on Americans, repeatedly refused to call Snowden a traitor for exposing national security secrets.

Gabbard defiant

A former Democrat, Gabbard has long faced criticism over her unorthodox views and statements on foreign policy matters. Some of her critics have painted her as an asset or useful idiot of autocratic regimes like Putin's Russia.

The Iraq war veteran gave defiant testimony at Thursday's hearing before the Senate Intel committee, dismissing "lies and smears" questioning her loyalty to America.

"The truth is: what really upsets my political opponents is my consistent record of independence, regardless of political affiliation, and my refusal to be anyone’s puppet," she said.

Gabbard also gave a reminder of why Trump nominated her in the first place, as she shared a blistering indictment of the politicization of intelligence work in recent years, from the FBI's surveillance of Trump's 2016 campaign to the intervention of 51 former intelligence agents who claimed, without evidence, that Hunter Biden's laptop could be "Russian disinformation."

While Republicans are mostly supportive of Gabbard, she faced tough questioning from members of both parties Thursday, and her refusal to totally disavow Snowden troubled some on the GOP side.

"I was surprised"

Confronted with her past praise of Snowden, Gabbard conceded that he broke the law when he leaked classified information about National Security Agency (NSA) spying, but she declined to call him a traitor when asked to do so repeatedly. Snowden was charged with espionage and fled to Russia, where he eventually became a citizen.

“I do not agree with or support, with all of the information and intelligence that he released, nor the way in which he did it,” Gabbard said.

Gabbard's responses frustrated some Republicans on the panel, including Senator James Lankford (R-Ok.)

“I was surprised, because that doesn’t seem like a hard question on that. It wasn’t intended to be a trick question by any means,” he said.

Because Republicans have a 9-8 majority on the committee, only one Republican needs to vote no to block Gabbard's nomination from proceeding.

While some may disagree with Gabbard's statements, her refusal to recant her positions shows conviction. That might scare some in the D.C. swamp, but it will be welcomed by many Americans eager for government reform.