Democratic lawmakers are concerned about Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard being present for a recent FBI-executed search warrant of an election’s office in Fulton County - despite her role typically not being involved in such investigations.
As the chief of intelligence, Gabbard’s role is typically focused on overseeing the U.S.’s 18 spy agencies, such as the CIA and NSA, and then making recommendations on national security matters.
But Wednesday Gabbard appeared somewhat discreetly at the raid, dressed in a plain black coat while wearing a baseball cap.
“I think much of the American public, are quite reasonably alarmed and asking questions after the Director of National Intelligence was spotted, bizarrely and personally lurking in an FBI evidence truck in Fulton County, Georgia yesterday,” Senator Jon Osoff said during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing Thursday.
Osoff urged his colleagues on both sides of the aisle to figure out if Gabbard is “straying far outside of [her] lane.”
On social media, Colorado Rep. Jason Crow criticized Gabbard for ”spending her time raiding the Fulton County, Georgia election center to feed Donald Trump’s delusion,” rather than keeping the U.S. “safe from foreign adversaries.”
Gabbard, a former Democratic representative, is a more recent ally to President Donald Trump. Despite endorsing Biden in 2020, she has unwaveringly agreed to assist Trump in investigating the presidential election to prove his false claims of fraud as a member of his cabinet.
For years, Trump has falsely asserted he won the 2020 election and promoted conspiracy theories, ignoring established facts established from independent inquiries and determinations from judges and lawmakers.
Since returning to power, he has sought to use his authority to rewrite history and it appears Gabbard is playing a central role in executing that, seemingly as she tries to earn her place in the administration.
“If you look at the Homeland Security Act of 2002, which created the position of the Director of National Intelligence… the DNI has no operational role, not in intelligence and certainly not in domestic law enforcement,” McCabe said on CNN.
Virginia Senator Mark Werner similarly questioned Gabbard’s presence and pointed out that she had not been involved with foreign incidents, such as the recent capture of the former Venezuelan leader.
In response to the questions about Gabbard’s presence, Olivia Coleman, the press secretary for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, said that Gabbard “recognizes that election security is essential for the integrity of our republic and our nation’s security.”
Coleman said Gabbard plays a “vital role” in identifying “vulnerabilities” in critical infrastructure, such as voting systems.
An official in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence referred to a U.S. statue that authorizes the director to oversee a national counterintelligence officer who, among other tasks, can address risks “posed by foreign powers to election infrastructure.”
However, that statute refers specifically to risks “posed by foreign powers” – not domestic.
A U.S. official familiar with the search warrant executed in Fulton County said it authorized agents to look for physical ballot, voter rolls, ballot images and tabulator tapes from that year. It’s reportedly part of a large investigation into whether election records were destroyed or fraudulent votes were submitted.
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