A team led by Tulsi Gabbard, head of U.S. President Donald Trump's intelligence agencies, spearheaded an investigation into Puerto Rico's voting machines last spring, Reuters reported on the 5th (local time), citing Gabbard's office and three sources familiar with the previously undisclosed matter.

According to the sources, the investigation aimed to examine claims that Venezuela had hacked Puerto Rico's voting machines in cooperation with the FBI, but no clear evidence of Venezuela interfering in the elections of the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico was found, Reuters reported.

In a statement to Reuters, the Gabbard office confirmed the investigation, which took place in May, but denied any connection to Venezuela, stating that the focus of the investigation was on the vulnerabilities of Venezuela's electronic voting systems.

A spokesperson for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) stated that her team had secured several of Puerto Rico's voting machines and copies of data extracted from those machines as part of the investigation process.

The ODNI stated that taking voting machines and data is a "common practice in forensic analysis."

Referring to similar voting infrastructure in other parts of the United States, the report added, "The ODNI has identified extremely concerning cybersecurity and operational deployment practices that pose significant risks to U.S. elections."

The ODNI stated that some of the security flaws in the voting machines used in Puerto Rico stemmed from the use of vulnerable cellular technology, and that software defects exist that would allow hackers deep access into critical election systems.

The Puerto Rico operation appears to be part of an effort by Trump administration officials to investigate allegations of election fraud, according to the sources.

Reuters quoted sources who requested anonymity as saying that concerns about voter fraud began after Trump's defeat in the 2020 election and have not subsided.

Gabbard's appearance at the scene of an FBI raid on election facilities in Fulton County, Georgia, last week shows her direct involvement in these issues.

According to Reuters sources, unproven allegations that Venezuela was involved in electoral fraud in the U.S. territory's elections raised questions about potential foreign interference, and Director Gabbard has the legal authority to investigate them.

Residents of the Caribbean island are U.S. citizens but cannot vote for representatives in Congress and cannot vote in presidential elections.

According to former and current U.S. officials, domestic election security issues are generally handled by law enforcement agencies, not national intelligence agencies, Reuters reported.

However, the ODNI stated that Director Gabbard's authority to conduct such investigations is stipulated by federal law.

The ODNI stated that the FBI team involved in the Puerto Rico operation was investigating allegations that the government of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela had hacked U.S. voting systems.

The Puerto Rico operation involved the FBI's South Florida branch, and agents from that branch collaborated with the election security threat investigation group overseen by Gabbard.

According to the ODNI, a U.S. Attorney in Puerto Rico, a Homeland Security Investigations team, and an FBI supervisory special agent "assisted in the voluntary handover of electronic voting equipment and software to the ODNI for analysis."

Pablo Jose Hernandez Rivera (Democrat), who was elected as the federal representative for Puerto Rico in 2024, told Reuters, "There are widespread reports of various problems during the election administration process. However, this is all due to incompetence and corruption, not foreign interference."

By Sung Ku Hong, Chief Reporter, NNP USA / Special Correspondent NNP info@newsandpost.com