Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence, Says Trump Asked Her to Join Georgia Ballot Seizure

Tulsi Gabbard, serving as Director of National Intelligence, became embroiled in controversy when she participated in the Fulton County raid on election materials.

“Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s testimony before a Senate committee Wednesday raised a host of questions about the extent of President Donald Trump’s involvement in the FBI’s extraordinary raid on an election facility in Fulton County, Georgia, this January”

Democracy Docket

President Trump personally requested her involvement in the operation.

Democracy Docket

When questioned by Sen. Jon Ossoff about her authority in overseeing criminal warrants, Gabbard justified her presence by claiming 'oversight on election security.'

The raid was based on a search warrant later revealed to be largely based on disinformation and debunked voter fraud claims.

Immediately raised alarm bells about potential foreign interference allegations.

Trump publicly explained that Gabbard participated 'at the insistence of Attorney General Pam Bondi.'

The Department of Justice initially claimed her presence was coincidental, creating significant inconsistencies.

These inconsistencies fueled scrutiny over who authorized the operation that critics called an extraordinary intrusion into state election administration.

Gabbard has spent months conducting investigations into election integrity at the president's orders.

Her focus has been on long-debunked claims that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump due to foreign government interference with voting machines.

The Daily Beast

Despite federal intelligence agencies concluding that 'no indications that any foreign actor attempted to alter any technical aspect of the voting process in the 2020 US elections,' Gabbard has maintained there is intelligence reporting suggesting electronic voting systems are vulnerable.

She stated on April 10, 2025, that electronic voting systems 'have long been vulnerable to exploitation that could result in enabling determined actors to manipulate the results of votes being cast with the intent of changing the outcome of an election.'

Her office recently obtained voting machines from Puerto Rico to probe for security vulnerabilities.

This probe was based on claims pushed by election deniers that Venezuela had hacked the machines.

Following the Fulton County raid, Gabbard met with FBI agents who carried out the search.

“Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s testimony before a Senate committee Wednesday raised a host of questions about the extent of President Donald Trump’s involvement in the FBI’s extraordinary raid on an election facility in Fulton County, Georgia, this January”

Democracy Docket

During this meeting, she called Trump who personally thanked the agents and questioned them about the investigation.

The New York Times reported that this meeting occurred just one day after the raid took place.

In her defense to Congress, Gabbard wrote that her office has been 'actively reviewing intelligence reporting and assessments on election integrity since I took office.'

Her participation in the operation has outraged local officials and voting rights advocates.

This outrage comes particularly given that dozens of challenges to the 2020 election results yielded no credible evidence of widespread voter fraud.

The raid represents what critics describe as an extraordinary intrusion into state election administration.

This comes amid Trump's public calls for greater federal control over voting systems.

Trump has also amplified conspiracy theories alleging foreign interference without evidence.

Gabbard has also embarked on an effort to rewrite the history around Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

She claimed through declassified documents that the FBI's Russia probe wasn't initiated because of actual interference.

The Daily Beast

This directly contradicts findings from U.S. intelligence community probes, a bipartisan Senate review, the Mueller report, and the Durham report.

All of these concluded that Russia attempted to interfere in the election with the goal of sabotaging Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.

Instead, Gabbard claimed the FBI's investigation was part of a 'treasonous conspiracy' and 'coup' that former President Barack Obama and his top intelligence officials tried to stage against Trump.

Citing her claims, Trump said Obama and other former officials were guilty of treason, a crime punishable by death.

The DOJ opened a criminal investigation into Gabbard's allegations.

The status of that probe remains unknown.

Gabbard's investigations into foreign interference coincide with broader efforts by far-right anti-voting figures with close ties to the White House.

“Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s testimony before a Senate committee Wednesday raised a host of questions about the extent of President Donald Trump’s involvement in the FBI’s extraordinary raid on an election facility in Fulton County, Georgia, this January”

Democracy Docket

These efforts aim to gain federal control over elections.

Democracy Docket

One draft executive order, obtained by Democracy Docket, claims emergency powers are necessary due to foreign interference with U.S. election infrastructure.

The order would empower the president to ban voting machines and implement several other blatantly unconstitutional measures.

The order aims to allow the president to seize control of elections by declaring a national emergency.

Both Gabbard and FBI Director Kash Patel have denied knowledge of this draft order.

Despite Trump signaling he may soon issue another elections-related executive order.

Similar to his previous attempt to unilaterally control elections, any future order would likely face swift legal challenges.

A White House official acknowledged communication with outside advocates while dismissing speculation about specific policies.