Who Was Really Behind the FBI’s Election Office Raid in Georgia?

Conflicting accounts, a DNI on the scene, and a direct Trump call to FBI agents raise serious questions about political interference.

Last week, the Trump administration made an extraordinary move in its long-running effort to undermine the 2020 election: federal agents searched an elections office in Fulton County, Georgia.

That alone is disturbing and unprecedented — especially given President Trump’s call for Republicans, one of our two major political parties, to “take over elections.”

What’s just as striking is how badly the administration has struggled to explain who was involved in the FBI raid — and why.

According to CNN’s analysis, the confusion centers on two people who should not be anywhere near a criminal investigation of an election office: Trump himself and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.

Both roles were initially downplayed. Both explanations later collapsed in a cloud of contradictions.

Tulsi Gabbard

The DNI oversees intelligence agencies. It’s not a law enforcement job. It’s not supposed to touch criminal investigations.

Yet there was Gabbard last Wednesday near Atlanta, photographed at the scene after FBI agents executed a search warrant. One image shows her standing in a truck filled with boxes taken from the facility.

When CNN asked Trump what Gabbard was doing there, he said she was “working very hard on trying to keep the election safe.”

That answer raised eyebrows so high they knocked holes in the ceiling — and the administration quickly tried to walk it back.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche repeatedly minimized her role:

• She “happened to be present in Atlanta.”

• She was “not part of the grand jury investigation.”

• She wasn’t at the search, just “in the area.”

But that story didn’t hold.

CNN later confirmed that Gabbard personally put Trump on the phone with FBI agents involved in the search — an extraordinary and highly unorthodox step in a politically sensitive investigation. The New York Times first reported the existence of that phone call.

On Monday night, Gabbard confirmed it herself in a letter responding to Democrats on the House and Senate intelligence committees. She said she accompanied senior FBI officials at Trump’s request and facilitated the call, while claiming neither she nor Trump gave instructions.

She also directly contradicted Blanche, stating that she observed FBI personnel executing the search warrant.

Despite repeated claims that she was “not part” of the investigation, Gabbard’s own account — and Trump’s — make clear she played a significant role.

Donald Trump

Gabbard’s letter also undercuts efforts to distance Trump himself.

Blanche told CNN’s Dana Bash that Trump wasn’t involved, and suggested his comments about “interesting things happening” in Fulton County didn’t mean anything. And he was asked again about Gabbard’s presence. He said he didn’t know why she was there.

Pressed on whether Trump had even been briefed, Blanche said he didn’t know.

But now we do.

Gabbard has confirmed that Trump personally directed her to be present and that he spoke directly with FBI agents working on the case. It was later revealed that she is conducting a Trump-approved, standalone review, separate from the DOJ, of the 2020 election focused on voting machine vulnerabilities and foreign interference. (Is this where Nicolas Maduro comes in?)

After that disclosure, Blanche changed his tone on Fox News, brushing off the call as routine.

“The president talks to law enforcement all week long,” he said. “I love it. It’s great.”

This is another “who are you going to believe — me or your lying eyes?” moment. This was a search tied directly to election administration, in a case Trump has a deep personal and political stake in, against the backdrop of his long history of pressuring law enforcement for favorable outcomes and insisting he can’t lose an election.

In a matter of days, Trump went from supposedly not being involved at all to being directly connected to agents executing a search related to the 2020 election.

The same is true for his director of national intelligence.

The administration took a drastic step. Then it told several incompatible stories about who was involved — until the facts caught up.

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