Justice Department Defends Tulsi Gabbard’s Presence At Atlanta Election Search

A top Justice Department official defended Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s presence as the FBI seized 2020 election ballots from a warehouse outside Atlanta earlier this week.

Democratic lawmakers and former officials have said Gabbard’s role at the execution of a criminal search warrant appeared to violate longstanding policies and traditions that sharply limit the activities of intelligence officials on U.S. soil, but Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche insisted Friday that her presence at the FBI-led search was appropriate.

“She's an extraordinarily important part of this administration,” Blanche said. “This administration coordinates everything we do as a group. … Of course, that's a big part of her job. And so the fact that she was present in Atlanta that day is something that shouldn't surprise anybody.”

A federal magistrate judge approved a warrant allowing FBI agents to seize all Fulton County ballots from the 2020 election as part of an investigation into potential criminal violations of federal election laws. However, details of what evidence prosecutors presented to the judge remain under seal.

At a press conference Friday at DOJ headquarters in Washington called to announce the release of more Epstein files, Blanche suggested that the probe was related to “election integrity” and that President Donald Trump had a role in it.

“It should be no surprise to many in this room, or anybody watching, that election integrity is extraordinarily important to this administration, always has been and always will be. And so the fact that President Trump and this administration are investigating to make sure that … we are investigating issues around elections to make sure that we do have completely fair and appropriate elections should not be surprising, but I can't comment on any criminal investigations,” Blanche said.

The top Democrats on the Senate and House intelligence committees wrote to Gabbard on Thursday to demand she appear before them to explain the legal basis, scope and justification for her participation in the raid.

“It is … deeply concerning that you participated in this domestic law enforcement action,” Senate Intelligence Vice Chair Mark Warner (D-Va.) and House Intelligence Committee ranking member Jim Himes (D-Conn.) wrote. “The Intelligence Community should be focused on foreign threats and, as you yourself have testified, when those intelligence authorities are turned inwards the results can be devastating for Americans’ privacy and civil liberties.”

A spokesperson for Gabbard confirmed to POLITICO on Thursday that the director of national intelligence was in the Atlanta area, where she was photographed Wednesday near the raid site.

A White House spokesperson issued a statement confirming that Gabbard is focusing on domestic elections.

“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,” spokesperson Davis Ingle said Thursday. “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.”