National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard seized voting machines from Puerto Rico as part of an investigation into the 2020 election.
Gabbard’s team investigated Puerto Rico’s voting machines last spring, a development revealed in a Reuters report on Wednesday. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence told CNN in a statement on Wednesday that it seized voting machines from the island to investigate them for insecurities.
The office said the seizure came as a result of “extremely concerning” cybersecurity and operational deployment practices with Puerto Rican voting machines. The operation appeared smoother than the FBI raid of Fulton County, with the ODNI statement saying the federal government’s team “facilitated the voluntary turnover of electronic voting hardware and software to ODNI for analysis.”
The U.S. attorney in Puerto Rico, Homeland Security Investigations agents, and an FBI supervisory special agent took part in the operation.
The investigation was based on “publicly reported claims relating to elections in Puerto Rico alleging discrepancies and systemic anomalies in their electronic voting systems,” the statement added.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the ODNI for comment.
The seizure of the machines quickly drew protests from Democrats, who argued that election matters were out of Gabbard’s jurisdiction.
“Director Gabbard’s own team acknowledges there was no evidence of foreign interference, yet they seized voting machines and election data anyway. Absent a foreign nexus, intelligence agencies have absolutely no lawful role in domestic election administration. Are our intelligence tools being abused to pursue this farce?” Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) said in a post on X.
FULTON COUNTY SUES FOR FILES TAKEN BY FBI RAID
Gabbard has found herself at the center of concerns around election integrity after she showed up at an FBI raid of an election center in Fulton County last week. She later brokered a call between President Donald Trump and the FBI agents involved. Trump praised her role the day after the raid, saying she was working to keep elections secure.
“She’s working very hard on trying to keep the election safe, and she’s done a very good job,” he said of Gabbard. “They got into the votes with a signed judge’s order in Georgia, and you’re going to see some interesting things happening. They’ve been trying to get there for a long time.”