US senator calls FBI ballot seizure ‘Nixonian’
Washington, Feb 9 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) US Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, raised fresh alarms Sunday over what he described as an effort by President Donald Trump to undermine confidence in US elections, calling the FBI’s seizure of 2020 voting records in Fulton County, Georgia “almost… Nixonian.”
“We have not been informed of any foreign nexus,” Warner told CBS’ Face the Nation, questioning why Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard appeared at a local elections office during what he called a “domestic political investigation.”
Warner said the intelligence chief’s role should be “outward-facing about foreigners, not about Americans,” arguing that her presence in Georgia would only be justified “unless there is a foreign nexus,” which he said had not been shown to Congress.
He said the episode raised basic questions about presidential involvement. “If the president asked Gabbard to show up down in Georgia on a domestic political investigation, first of all, how would he know about the search warrant even being issued?” Warner said.
Warner said the committee learned of Gabbard’s earlier domestic actions from media reports. “I believe the first we ever heard about this was from the press itself,” he said, referring to reporting about her presence in Puerto Rico.
He argued that key election-security structures have been weakened even as the White House cites statutory authority related to election security. “All of those entities have been basically disbanded, CISA cut by a third… the FBI center cut back, the ODNI center cut back,” Warner said, adding that ODNI involvement “has to be… of foreign involvement.”
Warner said Trump’s own rhetoric was fueling his concern about 2026. “This was what I’m seeing from the president’s own comments about nationalizing elections… and putting Republicans in charge, counter to the Constitution,” he said. He warned of “uncharted territory,” adding, “you don’t need to do a lot to discourage people from voting.”
CBS election law contributor David Becker said the administration’s actions have been unprecedented. “We have never seen a president try to exert executive authority over elections in the states like we have,” Becker said, noting courts have blocked key moves and that the Constitution “specifically grants states the authority to run elections.”
Becker rejected claims of widespread manipulation, saying, “Ninety-eight percent of all Americans vote on paper ballots,” and describing 2020 as “the most scrutinized election in American history.” He said the Georgia results in 2020 were repeatedly reviewed and upheld.
Becker also questioned the rationale for the Georgia search. “There is no viable reason to have a high-level political appointee during the execution of a search warrant,” he said, adding that officials have offered “shifting explanations.”
Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas said DHS funding talks should continue and backed body cameras, saying “the body cameras make a lot of sense,” while opposing requirements he said could “strip away protections” for officers. He defended the use of “administrative warrants,” saying, “Administrative warrants work.”
In a separate interview, former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb warned the US measles outbreak will worsen, saying, “I think this is going to get worse, unfortunately, before it resolves,” and pointing to declining childhood vaccination rates.
The fight over election administration has intensified as Trump urges Republicans to “nationalize” voting while Democrats warn of federal overreach. US elections are run by states under the Constitution, but Washington battles over voting rules and enforcement have increasingly become a national flashpoint heading into the midterm cycle.
