Trump says Bondi directed Gabbard to attend Georgia raid
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President Trump speaks during the National Prayer Breakfast on Feb. 5 in Washington, D.C. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images
President Trump on Thursday said Attorney General Pam Bondi insisted that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard attend the search of Fulton County's election center, contradicting Gabbard's claim that the president requested her presence.
Why it matters: The FBI's seizure of hundreds of boxes containing scanned ballots and other documents — and Gabbard's puzzling presence during the search — sparked fear among Democrats and local leaders who framed the move as retaliation for the president's 2020 loss.
Driving the news: Gabbard "took a lot of heat ... because she went in at Pam's insistence ... and she looked at votes," Trump said at Thursday's National Prayer Breakfast.
- "They say why is she doing it?" he said. "Because Pam wanted her to do it."
- But when asked during his Wednesday NBC News sit-down why Gabbard was present at the raid, he replied, "I don't know but, you know — a lot of the cheating comes from — it's — it's international cheating."
- There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in 2020. As reported by Axios Atlanta's Thomas Wheatley, multiple reviews found that President Biden defeated Trump in Fulton County and in Georgia.
Yes, but: Gabbard tells a different story about who sent her to Georgia. She explained in a Monday letter to Democratic lawmakers that Trump requested her presence.
- To advance the effort toward "safeguarding" election integrity, Gabbard wrote, Trump "specifically directed my observance of the execution of the Fulton County search warrant."
What they're saying: Gabbard's office says there's "no contradiction" and that both the president and Bondi asked for her to be there.
- "Two things can be true at the same time," Gabbard spokesperson Olivia Coleman told Axios.
- The DOJ did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.
But, but, but: Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told CNN Sunday he didn't know why Gabbard was present at the search.
- "She is not part of the grand jury investigation, but she is for sure a key part of our efforts at election integrity," he said.
- The next day, he emphasized to Fox News that she "wasn't at the search — she was in the area where the search took place."
Between the lines: Trump has for years spread debunked claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
- But his recent musings that Republicans should "nationalize" or "take over" voting, coupled with the raid in Fulton County, have given the president's pledges to reform how Americans vote new urgency.
Go deeper: Gabbard expected to join election officials' meeting after Georgia raid
