The intensifying controversy surrounding the presence of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard in Fulton County, Georgia, last week is straightforward: She needlessly participated in an FBI raid on an Atlanta-area elections office as agents pursued one of Donald Trump’s absurd conspiracy theories, despite the fact that the DNI is prohibited by law from taking part in domestic law enforcement.
But in recent days, an unexpected mystery related to the controversy has emerged: Who sent her?
Late last week, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, a former Trump defense lawyer, said Gabbard “happened to be present in Atlanta,” as if her role were some kind of coincidence.
On Monday, the president told Fox News that Gabbard “wasn’t at the search.” Rather, she was “in the area where the search took place.” (I still don’t understand what that means.)
The DNI herself tried to clarify matters in a four-page letter to Capitol Hill, in which she wrote that her “presence was requested by the President.” The same document added that Trump “specifically directed my observance of the execution of the Fulton County search warrant.”
And then things got weird.
On Wednesday, NBC News’ Tom Llamas asked Trump why Gabbard was on hand for the FBI raid. “I don’t know,” the president replied.
A day later, Trump shifted gears again and said the DNI went to Georgia at the “insistence” of Attorney General Pam Bondi, which didn’t help, since (1) it contradicted Gabbard’s line; (2) it contradicted his own line to NBC News; and (3) Gabbard doesn’t work for the Justice Department, and there was no basis for the AG to insist on the DNI’s participation (which, again, is precluded by law).
On Thursday afternoon, a reporter asked White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt whether the president personally asked Gabbard to go. She refused to answer the question directly. At the same briefing, another reporter asked, “You said Trump supports that Gabbard was in Fulton County, but last night, when he was asked about it, he said he didn’t know why she was there. Can you clarify on that?” Leavitt again dodged and didn’t respond directly. It’s not altogether clear why the White House is struggling with this, but as a rule, when Trump and his team are contradicting each other and start repeatedly changing their story, that’s emblematic of a much bigger problem. Watch this space.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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