World
US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard stated on Monday that she was present at last week’s FBI raid on an election facility in Georgia at the request of President Donald Trump and had been there for a “brief period of time.” In a letter to lawmakers dated Monday, Gabbard wrote that she observed FBI personnel executing a search warrant in Fulton County.
Top Democrats on both Senate and House intelligence committees called for Gabbard to brief their panels on her presence at the raid, citing concerns about her attendance. According to the letter, Gabbard had also facilitated a brief phone call between Trump and FBI agents during her visit to the Atlanta FBI field office, which was contrary to typical law enforcement protocols.
Gabbard noted that Trump did not ask any questions and that she and Trump neither issued any directives nor provided further information beyond this exchange. The FBI conducted the search at Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center on Wednesday in pursuit of Trump’s claims of widespread voting fraud during the 2020 election, which had been rejected by courts, state governments, and members of Trump’s own administration.
Experts questioned Gabbard’s presence at the event, given that her primary authority as DNI is overseas spying and protecting national security. “The DNI has authorities set out by statute and they don’t include investigating past elections for potential fraud,” Robert Litt, who served as the top ODNI lawyer from 2009 to 2017, had told Reuters last week.
Gabbard explained in her letter that her presence was requested by Trump and conducted within her statutory authority related to election security. Warner’s office expressed skepticism regarding Gabbard’s explanation for her involvement, asserting it raised more questions than answers.