The Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a statement to CNN on Wednesday that it obtained the voting machines from Puerto Rico and conducted an investigation into their security vulnerabilities.
The extraordinary move comes as Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard launches a broader investigation into voter fraud at the request of President Donald Trump. President Trump has falsely claimed that the 2020 election was rigged, despite numerous court rulings and audits debunking that claim. Gabbard was present last week when FBI agents executed a search warrant related to the 2020 election in Fulton County, Georgia.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence claimed in a statement that it found cybersecurity and operational deployment practices for Puerto Rico’s voting machines to be “extremely concerning,” but provided no evidence.
An ODNI spokesman said U.S. attorneys, Homeland Security Investigations agents and FBI supervisory agents in Puerto Rico “facilitated the voluntary transfer of electronic voting hardware and software to ODNI for analysis.” It’s unclear when the agency will receive and study the voting machines.
In justifying the voting equipment investigation, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence cited “publicly reported allegations related to Puerto Rico’s elections of disparities and systemic anomalies in its electronic voting systems.”
David Becker, executive director of a nonpartisan nonprofit that works with election officials, told CNN that voting machines are subject to regular testing and a strict chain of custody. Paper ballots are counted by machine, and then the paper ballots are audited and recounted to confirm the machine count. These are safety controls that have been proven effective, he said.
The Director of National Intelligence coordinates intelligence from 17 other organizations in the U.S. intelligence community. Former intelligence officials and election experts told CNN that it is unprecedented for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to have such a hands-on role in election infrastructure.
“This is well beyond the purview or expertise of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence,” a former senior U.S. intelligence official responsible for election security told CNN on Wednesday in response to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s statement. “This is amateur hour.”
Becker told CNN that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s activities in Puerto Rico “appear to be designed to intimidate and discredit election officials, with ongoing threats of prosecution and repeated lies about our election system.”
Reuters first reported the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s investigation in Puerto Rico, saying the activity occurred last spring.
It’s unclear if and when the Office of the Director of National Intelligence will release more public information about the Puerto Rico voting equipment investigation. A spokesman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said the agency is “currently coordinating with partners across the U.S. government to provide our findings to agencies who can take action to improve the security of our systems.”
CNN has asked Puerto Rico election officials for comment.
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