WASHINGTON — Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has taken a leading role in probing alleged fraud in the 2020 presidential election, culminating earlier this week in a raid with FBI agents of a Georgia polling office, White House and administration officials told The Post.
As far back as April 2025, Gabbard said her team uncovered evidence of vulnerability in electronic voting systems, but the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has long been tasked with defending elections from foreign influence.
“Director Gabbard has a pivotal role in election security and protecting the integrity of our elections against interference, including operations targeting voting systems, databases, and election infrastructure,” said White House spokesman Davis Ingle.
“She has and will continue to take action on President Trump’s directive to secure our elections and work with our interagency partners to do so.”
An ODNI spokesperson added: “Director Gabbard recognizes that election security is essential for the integrity of our republic and our nation’s security. As DNI, she has a vital role in identifying vulnerabilities in our critical infrastructure and protecting against exploitation.”
That’s included regular White House briefings with Trump, chief of staff Susie Wiles, Department of Justice officials and lawyers Cleta Mitchell and Kurt Olsen — the latter of whom now works as a special government employee, according to The Wall Street Journal.
One of the DNI chief’s most high-profile probes last year concluded with a news conference in which she accused the Obama administration of engaging in a “treasonous conspiracy” by claiming Russia intervened in the 2016 election on Trump’s behalf.
Several Cabinet officials under former President Barack Obama — including then-CIA Director John Brennan and then-DNI James Clapper — were referred to the Department of Justice for prosecution and later hit with subpoenas to testify before federal prosecutors.
Current administration officials noted that ODNI’s investigative work followed the president’s executive order protecting election integrity.
Gabbard’s position authorizes her to coordinate with officials from the National Counterintelligence and Security Center to address “risks posed by foreign powers to election infrastructure such as voting systems, voter registration databases, critical infrastructure.”
“We know through intelligence and public reporting that electronic voting systems have been and are vulnerable to exploitation,” an ODNI spokesperson added.
“President Trump’s directive to secure our elections was clear, and DNI Gabbard has and will continue to take actions within her authorities, alongside our interagency partners, to support ensuring the integrity of our elections.”
Critics have often pointed to the more than 60 cases involving 2020 election fraud failing at the courts — even before Trump-appointed judges.
The fraud allegations culminated in a “Stop the Steal” rally where Trump spoke outside the White House, as well as the breach of the US Capitol by a mob of his supporters, delaying certification of the election for hours.
Joe Biden defeated Trump in Georgia — one of seven critical battleground states — by nearly 12,000 votes that year.
Ballots certifying the Democratic candidate’s victory of 16 votes from the Electoral College went through a hand recount that affirmed the initial tally.
According to ODNI officials, Gabbard has been making use of intelligence analysis related to possible cyberattacks on critical election infrastructure, looking into ways foreign adversaries have exploited it in the past and collaborating with the FBI, DOJ and Department of Homeland Security.
Gabbard was photographed in a black baseball cap and taking a phone call while FBI agents executed a search warrant Wednesday in Fulton County, Ga., at an election center previously targeted by Trump allies for allegedly counting thousands of illegitimate ballots.
The warrant was seeking voter rolls, digital data, tabulator tapes and ballots as potential “evidence of the commission of a criminal offense,” according to reports and court filings.
“You’re going to see some very interesting things happening,” Trump told reporters Thursday night at the Kennedy Center premiere of first lady Melania Trump’s documentary. “They’ve been trying to get there for a long time.”
The largest county in Atlanta was also the jurisdiction where the 45th president and 18 co-defendants were indicted by District Attorney Fani Willis for allegedly seeking to reverse 2020 election results. The charges were later tossed.
Trump’s DOJ had sued Fulton County in December, demanding officials turn over “all used and void ballots, stubs of all ballots, signature envelopes, and corresponding envelope digital files” from the 2020 election.
It’s unclear which other swing states that went for Biden in 2020 may be targeted. The ODNI, FBI and DOJ coordination has been part of a White House interagency effort to secure US elections, according to Trump administration officials.
“We are working together as an administration on election integrity type issues,” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told reporters at a news conference Friday, adding that Gabbard’s presence at the Fulton County raid “shouldn’t surprise anybody.”
“She’s an extraordinarily important part of this administration,” he said. “And so I think her presence there shouldn’t be questioned, of course. And that’s that’s a big part of her job.”
It’s unclear if that will result in a report on election interference before the midterms.
The FBI’s raid in Georgia was authorized by a warrant that would allow for federal agents to scrutinize data from any voting machine in Fulton County, The Wall Street Journal reported. The warrant — signed by a judge — noted that agents were investigating potential destruction of election records and submission of fraudulent votes.
Trump has also hinted at doing away with mail-in ballots and voting machines before the 2026 elections via executive order as well.
“President Trump nominated me for as Director of National Intelligence,” Gabbard said last July, “to look for the truth around these issues related to election integrity.”
“This is something of paramount importance, obviously, to President Trump,” she added, “but really to the American people to have faith and trust in the integrity of our democratic republic.”
