Why is Tulsi Gabbard trying to relitigate the 2020 election now?

When FBI agents raided election offices in Georgia on Wednesday looking for evidence of fraud in the 2020 presidential election, there was a surprising figure in their ranks: Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. Her role in relitigating the campaign that President Donald Trump lost — but never conceded — is drawing scrutiny.

It is “unprecedented” for an intelligence chief to join an FBI raid, said NBC News. Her job is to “track threats from foreign adversaries,” and federal law prohibits Gabbard from “taking part in domestic law enforcement.” The White House disagrees. Gabbard is “trying to keep the elections safe,” Trump told reporters this week. It is notable, however, that Gabbard last year “dismantled” intelligence operations tracking “foreign actors seeking to interfere in American elections or institutions.”

Democrats and election experts “expressed alarm and bewilderment” about Gabbard’s role in the raid, said Politico. Trump has “long fixated on unsubstantiated allegations” of fraud in the 2020 election. The raid may not simply be about reexamining 2020, critics said, but could instead be building a foundation for Trump to interfere in future elections. Similar investigations “can happen at any point once again between now and this coming November,” said Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) to the National Association of Secretaries of State Elections Committee today.

What did the commentators say?

Federal agencies are “jumping in line” to help Trump “prove the unprovable” about the 2020 election, said Zachary B. Wolf at CNN. Gabbard, in particular, has been a “voracious spreader of election conspiracy theories.” And it is now clear that she has spent “months of her time” since her elevation to DNI investigating those alleged conspiracies. Her involvement in the Georgia raid is a sign of how far Trump will go to “rewrite his 2020 election loss,” and perhaps to “stymie Democrats hoping to win control of Congress this fall.”

Gabbard has been “less visible” than colleagues on big foreign policy issues like Venezuela and Iran, said Jeet Heer at The Nation. But she has “made herself useful” to Trump as the administration’s “driving force” to vindicate his 2020 conspiracy theories. That is partly about the president’s “narcissism” keeping him from admitting defeat, but it also provides a “perfect rationale for interfering” in future elections. Democrats need to let Gabbard and other officials know that if they “abuse their power, there will be criminal consequences in the future.”

What next?

Trump’s 2020 election claims have been “debunked again and again,” said The New York Times. “Scores” of lawsuits attempting to overturn President Joe Biden’s election win that year were dismissed by judges, and Trump’s then-Attorney General Bill Barr even publicly refuted his boss’ claims. The conspiracy theories were “complete nonsense,” Barr said at the time. Recounts and election audits also affirmed the results, the Times said. “No evidence has ever proved that voting machines in Georgia or anywhere else changed votes in the 2020 election.”

Democrats say they will investigate Gabbard’s role, said Bloomberg. Congress must determine if the Office of the Director of National Intelligence is “straying far outside of its lane,” said Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) at a Thursday intelligence committee hearing.