A team under the direction of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), Tulsi Gabbard, investigated Puerto Rico’s voting machines last year, according to a report from Reuters.
Sources familiar with the matter told the outlet that the goal of the effort was to work with the FBI to investigate whether Venezuela hacked the voting machines, although they added that the probe did not conclude with clear evidence on the matter.
Gabbard’s confirmed the investigation in a statement to Reuters, explaining that taking data from the voting machines is “standard practice in forensics analysis.”
“ODNI found extremely concerning cyber security and operational deployment practices that pose a significant risk to U.S. elections,” the office explained.
Democratic leaders condemned ODNI’s activities, with Senator Chuck Schumer (NY) saying Gabbard’s office was “trying to intimidate local elected officials.” Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) told Reuters, “What’s most alarming here is that Director Gabbard’s own team acknowledges there was no evidence of foreign interference, yet they seized voting machines and election data anyway.”
The report comes as Gabbard is already facing scrutiny for her presence during the recent seizure of hundreds of election materials from Fulton County, Georgia. She defended her presence, declaring in a letter that it was “requested by the President and executed under my broad statutory authority to coordinate, integrate and analyze intelligence related to election security, including counterintelligence, foreign and other malign influence and cybersecurity.”
Lawyers for Fulton County officials have filed a motion demanding that the 2020 election documents be returned.
