Tulsi Gabbard, the nation’s top intelligence officer, has spent months trying to prove Donald Trump’s 2020 election conspiracy theories, according to a report.
Gabbard, the 44-year-old director of national intelligence, has been sidelined from national security decisions in the White House. But her pet project, which saw her show up at an FBI raid on an election facility in Georgia on Wednesday, has kept her in Trump’s good graces, White House officials told The Wall Street Journal.
Gabbard, they said, has been learning about voting machines and battleground state data, and has been briefing Trump and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles about what she has found. She has also been keeping in the loop senior Justice Department officials, as well as 2020 election denialist lawyers Kurt Olsen and Cleta Mitchell.
Gabbard has also spoken with fellow intelligence community officials about unproven allegations of foreign interference in 2020, according to the officials. The Trump administration, two of them added, has even been weighing the use of executive orders in time for the midterm elections, which could see Democrats regain the House and Senate and launch impeachment proceedings and investigations.
Trump has suggested cancelling the midterms—a comment that White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, a losing congressional candidate in 2022, said was a joke.
When reached for comment, Gabbard’s press secretary, Olivia Coleman, told the Daily Beast in a statement:
“Director Gabbard recognizes that election security is essential for the integrity of our republic and our nation’s security. As DNI, she has a vital role in identifying vulnerabilities in our critical infrastructure and protecting against exploitation. We know through intelligence and public reporting that electronic voting systems have been and are vulnerable to exploitation. President Trump’s directive to secure our elections was clear, and DNI Gabbard has and will continue to take actions within her authorities, alongside our interagency partners, to support ensuring the integrity of our elections.”
Meanwhile, White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told the Daily Beast, “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. 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.”
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