'Amateur hour': Trump’s DNI took 'extraordinary step' to 'intimidate election officials'

National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard at AmericaFest 2025 in Phoenix, Arizona on December 20, 2025 (Gage Skidmore/Flickr)

Six years ago, Tulsi Gabbard was competing with Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) and others in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. But Gabbard took a far-right turn and became a full-fledged MAGA Republican during Biden's presidency, and as national intelligence director in the second Trump Administration, the former Democrat and ex-congresswoman is aggressively promoting Trump's repeatedly debunked claim that widespread voter fraud occurred in 2020.

Gabbard drew strong criticism from Democrats because of her presence outside an election center in Fulton County, Georgia during a recent FBI search of voter records. And now, according to Daily Beast reporter Janna Brancolini, Gabbard is drawing more criticism for taking the "extraordinary step of seizing an unspecified number of voting machines from Puerto Rico."

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), according to CNN, confirmed the Puerto Rico operation — which, Reuters reports, took place in May 2025.

Brancolini, in an article published by the Daily Beast on February 5, notes, "Sources told both Reuters and CNN that it was completely unprecedented for the ODNI, which coordinates intelligence from across the other 17 agencies in the U.S. intelligence community, to be involved in investigating a sensitive domestic matter. Election security is usually handled by law enforcement, not U.S. intelligence services."

A former intelligence official told CNN, "This is well beyond what ODNI has the authority or expertise to do. This is amateur hour."

David Becker, leader of the Center for Election Innovation, is quoted as saying that the Trump Administration's goal is to "intimidate and denigrate election officials."

"Gabbard seems to have a habit of generating headlines during politically fraught moments for Trump," Brancolini reports. "In July, as the administration was facing widespread fury over the Justice Department's failure to release the Jeffrey Epstein files, Gabbard announced she had uncovered a 'treasonous conspiracy' and 'years-long coup' against Trump involving top Obama Administration officials. Nothing ultimately came of the supposed revelations, but for a brief moment, Trump crowned Gabbard the 'hottest' person in his administration over the unfounded allegations."

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