Washington, Jan 29 - Senior Democrats on the Senate and House intelligence committees have formally requested that the Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, come before their panels to explain why she was present when FBI agents executed a warrant at an election facility in Fulton County, Georgia.
In a joint letter, Senator Mark Warner and Representative Jim Himes said they were "deeply concerned" that Gabbard was on the scene during Wednesday's FBI operation. The letter reiterated the principle that the U.S. intelligence community's primary focus should be foreign threats, warning that when intelligence authorities are applied domestically "the results can be devastating" for privacy and civil liberties.
Gabbard's office did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the lawmakers' letter.
Unusual involvement
The lawmakers noted that it is highly unusual for the nation's top intelligence official to be included in a domestic law enforcement action. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) is tasked principally with overseas intelligence collection and protection of U.S. national security interests abroad, and the appearance of the ODNI's leader at a domestic operation raises questions about the appropriate division between foreign intelligence and domestic law enforcement responsibilities.
Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii, was present when FBI agents executed a warrant at the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center in Union City. The facility, described as a large, warehouse-like site opened in 2023, was the subject of the court-authorized law enforcement activity, according to a brief statement from the FBI.
The Fulton County government said the warrant "sought a number of records related to 2020 elections." The operation came amid efforts by Republican President Donald Trump to find evidence to support his false claims that widespread fraud cost him the 2020 presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden.
Congressional concerns and accountability
Warner and Himes told Gabbard that any federal actions intended to counter "foreign election threats" require notifying both the public and the congressional intelligence committees. In their letter the lawmakers referenced prior positions taken by Gabbard, noting that she has questioned a 2017 intelligence community assessment that Russia attempted to influence the 2016 presidential election in favor of then-candidate Trump. That 2017 assessment was upheld by a bipartisan Senate intelligence committee report and by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
The lawmakers also asserted that Gabbard has dismantled an intelligence unit that Congress created to identify malign foreign influence operations. They wrote that Gabbard's recent actions "raise foundational questions about the current mission of your office," and requested that she brief the committees immediately in order to fulfill her obligation to keep Congress fully and currently informed.
Official characterizations
The FBI described the activity simply as agents executing a court-authorized warrant at the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center. Fulton County's brief statement confirmed that the warrant sought records pertaining to the 2020 elections.
Beyond those official descriptions and the lawmakers' letter, details about why the Director of National Intelligence was present at the scene were not provided in the material released by the committees or Gabbard's office as of the time of the letter.
Next steps
The request from the intelligence committee leaders sets the stage for a formal briefing in which Gabbard would need to explain the rationale for her presence and clarify the ODNI's role, if any, in the FBI's domestic inquiry. The letter frames the briefing as part of Gabbard's statutory duty to keep Congress informed about intelligence matters.
Until Gabbard or her office offers further information, the circumstances remain limited to the statements already issued by the FBI, Fulton County, and the congressional letter from Warner and Himes.