Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard faced questions from lawmakers on Wednesday about her role in a January FBI raid on an election center in Fulton County, Georgia.
The raid was carried out to seize ballots in order to find evidence that the 2020 election was rigged against President Donald Trump. Trump has cited fraud in Fulton County repeatedly while sharing the widely disproven claim.
Gabbard was spotted in photos of the raid, talking on her mobile phone. The highly unusual move for a national intelligence director prompted vocal concern from Democratic lawmakers and confusion among some Trump administration officials. Gabbard has shared the idea that prominent Democrats took part in a “treasonous conspiracy” when they floated the idea of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Her presence at the raid bolstered worries that she might work to interfere in future elections on Trump’s behalf.
On Wednesday Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., questioned Gabbard’s authority to involve herself in “a domestic law enforcement activity in Georgia.”
Gabbard said she did not “participate” in the raid because the ability to do so “does not exist within my authorities.”
“I was in Fulton County at the request of the president to work with the FBI and observe this action,” she said, echoing a claim she made in February. Gabbard did not specify on Wednesday why she was sent to observe beyond the need to “ensure the integrity of our elections.”
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Warner insinuated that Gabbard was part of Trump’s plan “to override the state election laws and, ‘take over voting,’” Gabbard called Warner’s claim “false.”
“I believe [this is] an organized effort to misuse her national security powers, to interfere in domestic politics, and potentially provide a pretext for the president’s unconstitutional efforts to seize control of the upcoming elections,” Warner said.
