Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard confirmed that her office took custody of voting machines from Puerto Rico and that those machines are now being held inside a secure ODNI facility for forensic examination.
As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, Puerto Rico’s June 2024 primary elections were plagued with deeply troubling irregularities:
Vote totals reported lower than paper ballot counts
Some machines reversed candidate totals
Others reported zero votes for candidates who clearly received ballots
At the time, officials brushed off the alarming discrepancies as a mere “software issue,” according to Puerto Rico Election Commission interim president Jessika Padilla-Rivera.
Months later, an “exclusive” from Reuters revealed that a team under Gabbard’s Office of the Director of National Intelligence had quietly launched an investigation into Puerto Rico’s voting systems.
According to Reuters:
The sources said the goal was to work with the FBI to investigate claims that Venezuela had hacked voting machines in Puerto Rico, but added the probe did not produce any clear evidence of Venezuelan interference in the U.S. territory’s elections. Reuters first reported the investigation.
A source with direct knowledge of the investigation confirmed that the event in May did happen, but it was not tied to any specific claim of Venezuelan interference, nor was the scope of the investigation specific to foreign interference. However, there was evidence of foreign involvement discovered, but no country was pointed out specifically by our source.
Further, authorities in Puerto Rico requested the investigation into the voting systems in the American territory following the “software issues” from the previous elections.
Our source did confirm that “ODNI found extremely concerning cyber security and operational deployment practices that pose a significant risk to U.S. elections,” however, that can be said for most black box voting systems with proprietary software and source code.
Read more:
Reuters Claims Office of DNI Investigated Puerto Rico Election Machines For “Claims That Venezuela Had Hacked Voting Machines” in the U.S. Territory
During the ODNI threat assessment hearing, Ranking Member Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT) pressed Gabbard on the unprecedented seizure.
Jim Himes:
Okay, Director, the ODNI has confirmed on the record that your office took custody of voting machines from Puerto Rico last May. I’m not aware of any previous DNI taking similar actions. Did your office promptly notify the committee about taking custody of Puerto Rico’s voting machines?
DNI Tulsi Gabbard:
I don’t believe we did. However, this was done at the request of the Puerto Rico AUSA attorney.
Jim Himes:
It’s a yes-or-no question. The answer, as you have acknowledged, is no. You did not inform the committee about the taking of a territory’s voting machines. Is there a specific foreign threat? I’ve read the reporting that you were looking for possible foreign threats, but is there a specific foreign threat that drove you to take this action?
DNI Tulsi Gabbard:
There were questions about whether or not there were vulnerabilities that a threat could have taken advantage of, and that was the purpose for their requesting us to look into those vulnerabilities.
Jim Himes:
Where are those voting machines now?
DNI Tulsi Gabbard:
I believe they are held in a secure facility at ODNI.
Jim Himes:
Have you or other ODNI officials taken any other state or territories’ voting equipment into custody?
DNI Tulsi Gabbard:
Not to my knowledge.
Video via MJTruthUltra:
The post DNI Tulsi Gabbard Confirms SEIZURE of Puerto Rico Voting Machines — Locked Down in Secure ODNI Facility for Forensic Audit appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.