Trump Says Pam Bondi Sent Tulsi Gabbard to Georgia FBI Raid, Contradicting Gabbard’s Letter
President Donald Trump now claims that Attorney General Pam Bondi directed Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard to attend an FBI search of the Fulton County, Georgia election office — a controversial decision that has renewed scrutiny over the raid’s intent and political implications.
The conflicting explanations about who sent Gabbard have become a central tension in the ongoing debate over the FBI’s actions in Georgia. Gabbard herself previously told lawmakers that Trump had asked her to be present, directly contradicting Trump’s more recent account that Bondi insisted she go.
According to reporting, at the National Prayer Breakfast Trump said Gabbard attended the search “at Pam’s insistence.” Earlier in the week, he also told NBC News he didn’t know why she was there. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Gabbard has said both Trump and Bondi requested her presence at the operation.
In a letter to Congress, Gabbard wrote that “the president specifically directed my observance of the execution of the Fulton County search warrant,” asserting her role was within her statutory election-security authority, though she did not oversee the law enforcement action itself.
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“It was President Trump who asked me to be there,” Gabbard told lawmakers in the letter, according to her office.
This unresolved dispute matters because it highlights competing narratives about political influence on federal law enforcement and the role of intelligence officials in domestic operations. Critics argue Gabbard’s presence undercuts norms separating intelligence and law enforcement, while supporters argue she was acting under legal authority.
Lawmakers from both parties are demanding further explanation, with some calling for Gabbard to testify. Gabbard’s own account and Trump’s shifting explanations set up more hearings and hearings in Congress. The next major development is likely testimony before intelligence committees to clarify her role.
What happens next is whether Gabbard testifies publicly and whether oversight committees can reconcile the conflicting accounts of who directed her to Georgia.
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