Tulsi Gabbard's role in the FBI's Fulton County raid gets even more provocative

[Jilly_in_VA]

Even if we were to remove Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard from the equation altogether, the FBI’s execution of a search warrant at the Fulton County elections office near Atlanta as part of Donald Trump’s ongoing crusade related to his 2020 election defeat would still be awfully tough to defend.

There’s no credible reason for federal law enforcement to seize these election materials, which have already been thoroughly scrutinized, just as there’s no reason for the FBI to act as a vehicle for the president’s discredited conspiracy theories. What’s more, as The New York Times noted, there are also related concerns about whether this “might also be a harbinger of things to come, signaling Mr. Trump’s growing willingness to use the vast powers of federal law enforcement to intervene in election matters in the lead-up to the critical 2026 midterms, which will determine the extent of his authority for the remainder of his second term.”

But that Gabbard, eager to work her way back into the White House’s good graces, personally participated in the raid in Georgia, adds a scandalous element to a burgeoning controversy. As a Politico report summarized:

Democrats, election experts and even some members of the Trump administration expressed alarm and bewilderment about why Tulsi Gabbard was on the scene as the FBI raided a Georgia election office that has been at the center of Donald Trump’s debunked claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

The administration’s official line is that the DNI “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.”

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/tulsi-gabbard-role-fbi-fulton-county-raid-election-2020

Sure, Donnie, sure. And her reason/excuse for being there was...?

[riversedge]

1. I do fear for the integrity of our next election--the midterms.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

2. MaddowBlog-Trump reportedly thanked FBI agents directly after raid of Georgia elections office

A Justice Department leader rejected claims that the president was involved in the Fulton County raid. There’s new evidence pointing in the opposite direction.

Link to tweet

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-reportedly-thanked-fbi-agents-directly-after-raid-of-georgia-elections-office

There’s fresh evidence pointing in the opposite direction. The New York Times reported on some behind-the-scenes details on what transpired when Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard personally met with FBI agents after they executed a search warrant near Atlanta.

What occurred during the meeting was even further outside the bounds of normal law enforcement procedure. Ms. Gabbard used her cellphone to call Mr. Trump, who did not initially pick up but called back shortly after, [according to three people with knowledge of the meeting].

The president addressed the agents on speakerphone, asking them questions as well as praising and thanking them for their work on the inquiry, according to three people with knowledge of the discussion.

According to the Times’ report, which has not been independently verified by MS NOW, the call was “fairly short” and was similar to “a pep rally or a coach giving an encouraging halftime speech to his players.”.....

There’s no credible reason for federal law enforcement to seize these election materials, which have already been thoroughly scrutinized, just as there’s no reason for the FBI to act as a vehicle for the president’s discredited conspiracy theories. The fact that Gabbard, eager to work her way back into the White House’s good graces, personally participated in the raid in Georgia, added a scandalous element to a burgeoning controversy.

An NBC News report explained, “Accompanying FBI agents on a raid is unprecedented for the chief of U.S. intelligence, whose job is to track threats from foreign adversaries. In her role overseeing the country’s spy agencies, Gabbard is prohibited by law from taking part in domestic law enforcement.”

But if the Times’ reporting is correct, Trump’s attaboy phone call with the agents on hand in Fulton County removed all doubt about the brazenness of the gambit.

“Even for a president who has radically transformed the Justice Department and the F.B.I. by trampling over their political independence and using them as tools for personal retribution, Mr. Trump appears to be taking that kind of involvement to a new level,” the Times added. “Rather than going to senior department or F.B.I. officials, Mr. Trump spoke directly to the frontline agents doing the granular work of a politically sensitive investigation in which he has a large personal stake.”

So much for “I don’t believe he was involved.”