Officials from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) conducted an examination in May of voting machines and related data used in Puerto Rico's elections, according to statements from ODNI and three people familiar with the matter. The inquiry was prompted by allegations that foreign actors - specifically Venezuela - had tampered with electoral systems in the U.S. territory, though the sources said the investigation did not turn up clear evidence supporting those claims.
ODNI confirmed the operation and characterized the effort as an analysis focused on vulnerabilities in the island's electronic voting infrastructure. The agency said it collected an unspecified number of voting machines along with copies of data from those machines as part of what it called routine forensic practice. In a written statement, ODNI warned that similar voting systems used elsewhere in the United States exhibited "extremely concerning cyber security and operational deployment practices that pose a significant risk to U.S. elections."
Representatives in Puerto Rico's election authority acknowledged the law enforcement interest but declined to discuss ongoing investigative steps. Jorge Rivera Rueda, who leads Puerto Rico's State Elections Commission, said he could not comment on active inquiries but added that the commission would cooperate "with any investigative process conducted by the appropriate authorities, whether at the state or federal level." Venezuela's government did not provide a comment when asked.
Scope and coordination of the operation
Sources familiar with the operation said the ODNI activity appeared to be part of an effort involving Trump administration officials to pursue allegations of voting fraud and potential foreign interference that remain unproven. The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were discussing non-public operations, said FBI personnel working out of the southern Florida field office coordinated with a group convened by ODNI that included national security officials, law enforcement agents, and government contractors.
ODNI said the turnover of the voting equipment and software was facilitated voluntarily by the United States Attorney in Puerto Rico, his team of Homeland Security investigations agents, and an FBI supervisory special agent. ODNI also said it did not find evidence tying the problems it identified to a specific foreign actor in the territory's elections.
Allegations, evidence, and official responses
Three individuals familiar with the review told investigators were pursuing the theory that Venezuela's government had been involved in hacking election systems used in Puerto Rico. The sources said that theory was the reason ODNI had legal grounds to engage - because a possible foreign nexus would fall within the intelligence community's remit - but they also said the probe did not produce definitive evidence linking Venezuela to breaches of the voting infrastructure.
ODNI, in its statement, denied a direct link to Venezuela and emphasized that the agency's primary concern was systemic vulnerabilities. The agency highlighted the use of susceptible cellular communications technology in some machines and noted software defects that, in ODNI's view, could allow malicious actors to reach deeply into electoral systems.
Political and legal concerns
News of ODNI's activity in Puerto Rico prompted sharp criticism from Democratic leaders in Congress, who raised constitutional and legal questions about the circumstances under which an intelligence agency would collect election materials within U.S. territory. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said the actions risked violating state and federal statutes and the Constitution and accused the administration of attempting to intimidate local officials. "They're trying to intimidate local elected officials," he said.
Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, emphasized that ODNI's own team had acknowledged it had not found evidence of foreign interference yet still obtained voting machines and data. "What's most alarming here is that Director Gabbard's own team acknowledges there was no evidence of foreign interference, yet they seized voting machines and election data anyway," Warner said.
On the House side, Representative Jim Himes, the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said the director had not presented a "defensible legal rationale" for such a probe. He told reporters that intelligence agencies operate primarily outside U.S. borders for a reason and that the head of the intelligence community should not engage in domestic law enforcement operations absent a clear foreign connection.
Context: recent ODNI actions and domestic election investigations
Gabbard's involvement in other high-profile election-related operations has already drawn scrutiny. Her presence at a recent FBI search of an election office in Fulton County, Georgia highlighted how directly involved her office has been in election matters that many observers consider primarily domestic in nature. ODNI officials said the director's office took a coordinating role in the Puerto Rico effort but that she was not physically present for the activities on the island.
Officials and former officials contacted by sources emphasized that domestic election security matters are usually administered by law enforcement rather than by intelligence agencies. ODNI, however, asserted that it has broad statutory authority "to coordinate, integrate, and analyze intelligence related to election security" and cited that mandate in explaining why it conducted the review of Puerto Rico's electronic voting systems.
Local conditions and statements from Puerto Rican officials
The three sources who discussed the case with investigators and ODNI's public comments noted that Puerto Rico's elections have experienced administrative irregularities in the past. However, lawmakers from the island have maintained that while administration problems exist, they are rooted in incompetence or corruption rather than in demonstrated foreign interference. "We have had widely reported problems in election administration. But they are all attributable to incompetence and corruption, not foreign interference," said Pablo Jose Hernandez Rivera, who was elected in 2024 to represent Puerto Rico in a non-voting capacity in the U.S. House of Representatives.
ODNI's review highlighted vulnerabilities tied to certain voting machines' use of cellular technology and to software shortcomings that, in ODNI's assessment, could provide vectors for attackers. Even so, the sources reiterated that the examination did not produce clear evidence tying Venezuelan operations to electoral tampering in Puerto Rico.
Noted developments mentioned by sources
In comments included in media reports, one source referred to an extraordinary claim that the U.S. military had seized President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas in January and transported him to New York to face drug trafficking charges; the source said Maduro denies those charges. The article's contributors also noted the broader political context of persistent, unproven allegations of widespread voter fraud following the 2020 U.S. presidential election, a fixation among some in the current administration that has continued into subsequent years.
What remains unresolved
Key elements remain unsettled publicly: the precise number of machines taken for analysis; the detailed findings of ODNI's forensic examination beyond generalized statements about vulnerabilities; and any subsequent investigative steps by law enforcement or other agencies. ODNI has framed its action as an authorized response to potential foreign threats to election integrity, while critics argue the operation blurred legal lines and encroached on domestic electoral processes.
As the matter develops, Puerto Rico's election authorities have pledged cooperation with any appropriate investigative body, and congressional leaders have signaled interest in examining the legal and constitutional implications of an intelligence agency acquiring election equipment on U.S. soil.