WASHINGTON — US Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard said 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, asserting that her attendance fell within her authority.
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In a letter to lawmakers dated Monday, Gabbard explained that she observed FBI personnel executing a search warrant in Fulton County for a brief period and that her role was limited to observation.
Gabbard also stated that while visiting the FBI field office in Atlanta, she “facilitated a brief phone call” for Trump to thank agents for their work on the investigation, a move experts described as unusual and outside normal law enforcement procedures. She stressed that Trump did not ask questions and that neither she nor the former president issued any directives during the operation.
🚨Panic mode for Dems: DNI Tulsi Gabbard showed up at the FBI raid in Fulton County, Georgia, seizing 2020 ballots, phones, computers and boxes. Her being there means this election fraud probe is dead serious. Expose it all! 🔥pic.twitter.com/nIMyrALZye
— US News Hub (@USHubNews) January 29, 2026
DNI Tulsi Gabbard says in letter to lawmakers that she participated in the FBI raid on a Fulton County election center last week at Trump request — and bc she has the power under federal law to analyze intel related to election security, including the 2020 election pic.twitter.com/tuJ0XV30zi
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) February 3, 2026
The raid targeted the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center in connection with Trump’s false claims that his 2020 election defeat was the result of widespread voter fraud. Courts, state officials, and members of Trump’s own administration have repeatedly rejected these claims.
Gabbard’s letter was addressed to Senator Mark Warner and Representative Jim Himes, top Democrats on the Senate and House intelligence committees, who had demanded a briefing on why the DNI was present during the domestic law enforcement action. Warner’s office responded that the letter “raises more questions than it answers.”
Legal experts noted that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence is primarily responsible for coordinating overseas intelligence and protecting national security, not investigating past elections for potential fraud. Robert Litt, former ODNI legal counsel from 2009 to 2017, said last week that the DNI’s statutory authority does not extend to domestic election probes.
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Gabbard defended her actions, saying in the letter that her presence was executed under her “broad statutory authority to coordinate, integrate, and analyze intelligence related to election security, including counterintelligence, foreign and other malign influence, and cybersecurity.”