From Sen. Mark Warner’s office:
Padilla, Warner Demand Gabbard, Intel Officials Brief Senate on Election Security After Fulton County Raid
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, and Mark Warner (D-Va.), Vice Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, called on Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard to immediately schedule an Intelligence Community (IC) briefing for Senators on election security concerns ahead of the 2026 federal midterm elections. The request comes amid unprecedented investigations by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), purportedly to address “evidence” of election vulnerabilities and manipulation of election results, which have not been substantiated.
The Senators pressed Gabbard for an explanation of her chilling actions late last month when she joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in raiding Fulton County, Georgia’s elections office to further perpetuate the repeatedly disproven lie that the 2020 election was stolen. They emphasized that Gabbard, President Trump, and others have given numerous inconsistent explanations of who tasked Gabbard with seizing these 2020 election materials and why she was involved. As the Trump Administration continues to spread baseless election conspiracy theories, Padilla and Warner also pushed Gabbard to clarify why ODNI tested voting machines and seized other election data in Puerto Rico.
“You should come prepared to clarify your public statements regarding voting system security and the status of ODNI’s highly unusual investigations regarding purported election integrity,” wrote the Senators. “You, the President, and others have offered conflicting explanations of your participation in the FBI’s raid of the Fulton County, Georgia election offices and seizure of materials related to the 2020 election, and your response to date has raised additional questions.”
ODNI has failed to respond to the Senators’ previous letter demanding an IC briefing on foreign election threats — including cyber-driven threats to alter American election outcomes — last fall. The Senators requested Gabbard also clarify her unsubstantiated public statements regarding voting systems and provide a plan for defensive cybersecurity measures ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, as well as details on the security of the 2025 federal elections. Additionally, they urged Gabbard to share all intelligence products concerning these election threats and underlying ODNI’s recent actions with the appropriate Congressional committees and lawmakers, as required by law. In addition to failing to release a declassified assessment on the 2024 election, as in prior elections, ODNI and the U.S. Department of Justice have refused to provide Congressional leaders with intelligence products on alleged foreign threats to 2026 elections.
“While the lack of response to our September 15 letter is unacceptable, we are also gravely concerned about your failure to provide relevant explanations or information to the election officials you are undermining, including failing to appear at a scheduled appearance with bipartisan Secretaries of State last month,” continued the Senators. “In the midst of the 2026 election cycle, we urge ODNI to ensure transparency and support for state and local election administration rather than sowing chaos and doubt in American elections.”
The Senators underscored that an intelligence briefing is particularly important after the Trump Administration dismantled election security efforts at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and curtailed the Congressionally authorized Foreign Malign Influence Center at ODNI.
Senator Padilla has strongly opposed efforts by the Trump Administration to undermine federal agencies’ election security work. Shortly after the Fulton County raid, Padilla spoke to the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) Elections Committee, warning the Secretaries about the Trump Administration’s serious threats to election administration and security, while pushing states’ chief election officials to protect the fundamental right to vote. After the November 2025 elections, Padilla led a floor block sounding the alarm on the Trump Administration’s ongoing efforts to rig election rules one year out from the 2026 midterms. Additionally, Padilla and Ranking Member of the Committee on House Administration Joe Morelle (N.Y.-25) have sent four letters to CISA leadership regarding CISA’s pause on all election security-focused activities, the termination of funding for the Election Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center, the agency’s refusal to share its review of its election security work, and the firings of CISA employees who previously worked on election security, including misinformation and disinformation issues. The Ranking Members also expressed serious concerns about the dangerous implications for elections following President Trump’s executive order purporting to bring independent regulatory agencies under total control of the White House.
Full text of the letter is available here and below:
Director Gabbard:
On September 15, 2025, we wrote to request an Intelligence Community (IC) briefing for Senators on election security to occur no later than October 10th. To date, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) has failed to take any steps to accommodate this request or respond to that letter.
In light of recent unprecedented and deeply concerning election-related actions taken by ODNI under your leadership, we write to reiterate this request for your office to immediately coordinate an IC briefing for all Senators on foreign election threats, including efforts to influence election outcomes through influence or cyber-enabled means. As part of that briefing, ODNI and the IC should also update the Senate on the status of planned defensive steps to ensure the cybersecurity of the mid-term elections in 2026, and any information regarding the security of the most-recent elections held in November 2025. Prior to that briefing, we ask that you make all intelligence products concerning such threats, and informing your recent actions, available to appropriate Congressional committees and Members of Congress, as required by law.
In addition to that intelligence briefing, you should come prepared to clarify your public statements regarding voting system security and the status of ODNI’s highly unusual investigations regarding purported election integrity. You, the President, and others have offered conflicting explanations of your participation in the FBI’s raid of the Fulton County, Georgia election offices and seizure of materials related to the 2020 election, and your response to date has raised additional questions. Similarly, recent confirmation that ODNI seized voting machines and other election data in Puerto Rico as part of an investigation also require urgent explanation in light of the Administration’s continued amplification of baseless election conspiracy theories. Against the backdrop of the memorandum of understanding that the Department of Justice has circulated to states that have provided sensitive voter information, which contemplates unprecedented federal interference with state and local election administration, these actions to seize voting systems and files are especially concerning.
While the lack of response to our September 15 letter is unacceptable, we are also gravely concerned about your failure to provide relevant explanations or information to the election officials you are undermining, including failing to appear at a scheduled appearance with bipartisan Secretaries of State last month. In the midst of the 2026 election cycle, we urge ODNI to ensure transparency and support for state and local election administration rather than sowing chaos and doubt in American elections. This is essential given this Administration’s shortsighted decisions to eliminate much of the election security work at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Attorney General Bondi’s elimination of the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force, and curtailed the work of the Congressionally mandated Foreign Malign Influence Center.
Voting in the first Congressional primary election begins imminently. We request that you work to schedule this briefing no later than February 27, 2026.
To view the release online, click here.
