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

Most Democrats and even some Republicans seemed uneasy with Tulsi Gabbard and her answers to their questions during her confirmation hearing with the Senate Intelligence Committee.

President Donald Trump's choice to direct U.S. intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, faces a Senate panel that is divided over its position on her nomination in a confirmation hearing on Thursday.

If confirmed, former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard would become the youngest-ever DNI. Sources tell ABC News the vote on her nomination is expected to be close.

EXCLUSIVE: Dozens of top former intelligence officials are urging members of the Senate to confirm President Trump’s nominee for Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, saying she will “begin undoing the gross politicization that has come to characterize intelligence bureaucracies,

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.

Tulsi Gabbard, President Trump's nominee to serve as the director of national intelligence, testifies 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.

Trump’s nominee for director of intelligence said, under oath, that she was not aware “until today” that a prominent cleric she met in Syria threatened to unleash suicide bombers in the United States.

Tulsi Gabbard appeared before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday to prove she deserves the title of director of national intelligence.

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.

Analysis: Democrats grandstanded, but it might be the questioning of two Republican hawks that sinks Trump’s pick for Director of National Intelligence, Eric Garcia reports

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.