Why was America’s top spy present at FBI raid on Georgia election facility?
DNI’s Tulsi Gabbard raises eyebrows as her team defends her presence as vital for ‘identifying vulnerabilities in our critical infrastructure’
Top Democrats on the Senate and House intelligence committees called on Thursday for US President Donald Trump’s chief spy to brief their panels on why she was present at an FBI raid on an election facility in Georgia.
Senator Mark Warner and Congressman Jim Himes told Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard in a letter that they were deeply concerned with her presence at Wednesday’s FBI operation, saying that the US intelligence community “should be focused on foreign threats”.
“When those authorities are turned inwards, the results can be devastating” for privacy and civil liberties, they wrote.
Olivia Coleman, Gabbard’s press secretary, said in a statement that Gabbard “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”.
It is highly unusual for America’s top intelligence official to be included in a domestic law enforcement operation as the remit of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) is overseas spying and protecting US national security.