Tulsi Gabbard defends her presence at FBI search of Georgia elections hub

WASHINGTON — Tulsi Gabbard on Monday defended her presence at an FBI search of an election center in Fulton County, Georgia, that has raised questions about her involvement as director of national intelligence.

In a letter to the top Democrats on the House and Senate intelligence committees, Gabbard said she was at the center last week in keeping with U.S. law and her responsibilities as the country’s top intelligence official.

Gabbard stood by her decision not to brief lawmakers about intelligence on possible threats to election security before her trip to Georgia, saying she would not “irresponsibly share incomplete assessments.”

“I will share our intelligence assessments with Congress once they are complete,” she wrote.

Gabbard went on to say she had broad authority as the director of national intelligence to oversee efforts to ensure U.S. elections are secure and to identify and analyze any potential foreign threats to elections or voting systems. In her letter, she acknowledged that she had arranged a call with FBI personnel and President Donald Trump.

Gabbard wrote that she placed a call in Fulton County to allow Trump to express his gratitude to the FBI agents who conducted the search.

“He did not ask any questions, nor did he or I issue any directives,” Gabbard wrote.

Two sources confirmed the phone call to NBC News on Monday. One source said Trump did not answer initially but eventually called back and briefly spoke with the agents, including the supervisory agent on the case.

The New York Times was first to report the call.

Gabbard said the office of general counsel at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence found her actions “to be consistent and well within my statutory authorities as the Director of National Intelligence.”

Monday’s letter — Gabbard’s first direct comments about her actions in Georgia, which have faced criticism as inappropriate in a domestic matter — comes a day after Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said “I don’t know why” she was at the FBI’s search.

“She is not part of the grand jury investigation, but she is, for sure, a key part of our efforts at election integrity and making sure that we have free and fair elections,” Blanche said on CNN. “She’s an expert in that space, and it’s a big part of what she and her team look at every day.”

Blanche also said Sunday that he did not believe Trump was involved in the raid, overseen by the FBI and Justice Department. Trump had previously told reporters that federal agents “got into the votes. … You’re going to see some interesting things happening.”

On Friday, Blanche noted that Gabbard “doesn’t work for the Department of Justice or the FBI,” but he said her presence in Georgia is “something that shouldn’t surprise anybody.”

The Georgia raid was related to records from the 2020 presidential election; Fulton County officials have announced plans to sue the Trump administration over the matter. Gabbard’s presence drew scrutiny from national security experts, and it has raised questions about whether Gabbard, who was excluded from the operation that led to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, was seeking relevance in Trump’s eyes.

It would be highly unusual for a director of national intelligence to accompany FBI agents on a raid. In her role, Gabbard oversees the country’s spy agencies and is barred from taking part in domestic law enforcement.

An official at the Office of Director of National Intelligence told NBC News on Monday that Trump requested that Gabbard go to Fulton County and that federal law gives the person in Gabbard’s position the role of leading counterintelligence efforts related to election security and analyzing foreign interference. The FBI’s intelligence and counterintelligence divisions fall under Gabbard’s authority as national intelligence director overseeing the country’s 18 intelligence agencies, the official said.

FBI headquarters, as well as the FBI Atlanta field office, declined to comment.