DNI nominee Tulsi Gabbard slammed claims that she is puppet of President Donald Trump or Russia's Vladimir Putin in her opening remarks before the Senate Intelligence Committee.

What to know about Tulsi Gabbard's confirmation hearing today: Tulsi Gabbard, President Trump's pick to be director of national intelligence, is testifying Thursday to the Senate

Tulsi Gabbard fought back against what she called “smears,” declaring she is nobody’s “puppet” before the Senate Intelligence Committee.

As the U.S. Senate confirmation hearings continue for President Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks, PolitiFact is live fact-checking the hearings for FBI

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.

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.

Tulsi Gabbard’s father, Mike Gabbard, also pivoted from anti-gay activism to a career in local politics in Hawaii. He mounted a House bid in 2004 and fielded questions about his extensive ties to Butler and the group’s past attempts to back candidates. Mike Gabbard described himself as a “Catholic” who was “eternally thankful to Chris Butler.”

President Donald Trump’s new administration is looking ahead to key Senate hearings this week for three of his most controversial nominees.

Sens. Susan Collins and Todd Young, who both serve on the Intelligence Committee, are among the Republicans who have yet to say whether they will support Tulsi Gabbard. Only one Republican would need to oppose her to block her nomination from being reported favorably to the full Senate,

Senators pressed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on his past vaccine and abortion remarks in the first of two days of hearings before senators vote on whether to confirm him as President Trump’s health secretary.

It’s Gabbard’s comments, however, that have posed the biggest challenge to her confirmation. Gabbard has repeatedly echoed Russian propaganda used to justify the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine and criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a corrupt autocrat.