Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said that President Donald Trump had directed her to accompany senior FBI officials while agents executed a search warrant at the Office of the Clerk of the Court in Fulton County, Georgia – a move that has sparked questions from top Democratic lawmakers who oversee intelligence matters.
In a statement on X, Gabbard called accusations against her “blatantly false and slanderous,” saying that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence is acting under statutory authorities to protect election integrity. She later detailed her response to Congress in an unclassified letter dated Monday, February 2, 2026.
Gabbard said she briefly observed personnel executing the warrant on January 28 alongside FBI Deputy Director Dan Bailey and the Atlanta office’s acting special agent in charge. She wrote that her presence was tied to election security, counterintelligence, foreign and other malign influence, and cybersecurity – and that ODNI’s general counsel found her actions consistent with her authorities.
Gabbard also said she facilitated a short phone call for Trump to thank the agents, adding that he asked no questions and issued no directives.
The disclosure intensified criticism from Sen. Mark Warner and Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrats on the Senate and House intelligence panels, who questioned why the nation’s top intelligence official was physically present during a domestic law enforcement action involving election-related records.
Warner’s office wrote to Gabbard about the appearance and said it was alarming. The office also asked for a briefing on her role and why she was involved.
Gabbard argued that election interference is a national security threat and cited authorities that assign the DNI a coordinating role on election-related intelligence. She also reiterated that ODNI is reviewing intelligence suggesting electronic voting systems have long faced exploitable vulnerabilities, but said she would not release incomplete assessments.
The Fulton County search drew national attention because the county has been central to Trump’s repeated fraud claims about the 2020 election. Reuters said that legal experts were unsure if the DNI’s attendance and the Trump call could make it hard to identify the difference between intelligence supervision and law enforcement.
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