A team working under Tulsi Gabbard, who served as a senior intelligence official during the Trump administration, led an investigation last spring into Puerto Rico’s electronic voting machines, Reuters has learned from Gabbard’s office and multiple sources familiar with the operation. The probe, intended to coordinate with the FBI, reportedly examined claims that Venezuela had hacked the U.S. territory’s voting systems, though it did not produce evidence of any foreign interference.
Gabbard’s office confirmed the investigation to Reuters but denied any connection to Venezuela, saying the focus was on potential vulnerabilities in Puerto Rico’s voting infrastructure. Officials collected an unspecified number of machines and copies of their data for forensic analysis, describing the action as standard practice. “ODNI found extremely concerning cybersecurity and operational deployment practices that pose a significant risk to U.S. elections,” a spokesperson said, citing similar concerns about election systems elsewhere in the United States.
According to sources cited by Reuters, some security gaps identified in the Puerto Rico machines involved the use of vulnerable cellular technology and software flaws that could allow deep access to electoral systems. The operation appears to be part of ongoing efforts by Trump administration officials to pursue unproven allegations of voter fraud, a campaign that began after Trump’s 2020 election loss. While Gabbard did not personally participate in the Puerto Rico operation, her office coordinated the investigation. Her recent presence at an FBI raid of an election facility in Fulton County, Georgia, underscores her continued involvement in domestic election security matters, which are typically handled by law enforcement rather than the intelligence community.
Reuters sources indicated that the FBI team involved was probing the theory of Venezuelan hacking, a claim strongly promoted by some Trump supporters but for which no public evidence has emerged. The operation included coordination between the FBI field office in southern Florida, national security officials, law enforcement agents, and government contractors. Gabbard’s office said that the United States Attorney in Puerto Rico and homeland security agents facilitated the voluntary transfer of voting hardware and software for analysis by ODNI.
While Puerto Rico has experienced election irregularities, local officials, including Democratic representative Pablo Jose Hernandez Rivera, told Reuters that these issues stem from mismanagement and corruption rather than foreign interference. The investigation highlights the intersection of election security, intelligence operations, and politically charged allegations that continue to shape U.S. domestic political debates.
