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The next is the transcript of the interview with Sen. Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia, that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Feb. 8, 2026.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Good morning and welcome to ‘Face the Nation.’ We start this morning with the highest Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Virginia’s Mark Warner. Good to have you ever right here.
SEN. MARK WARNER: Thanks, Margaret.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I need to discuss elections and safety. Again on January 28, the FBI went to Fulton County, Georgia and seized ballots and 2020 voting information linked to the presidential election. The Director of Nationwide Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, then was noticed exterior the elections workplace, and he or she argued that her presence there had been personally requested by the president of the US, and he or she had broad statutory authority to coordinate, combine and analyze intelligence associated to election safety. What would justify her involvement? Is there any overseas nexus that you’ve been knowledgeable of?
SEN. WARNER: We’ve got not been knowledgeable of any overseas nexus. The job of the director of nationwide intelligence is to be outward dealing with about foreigners, not about People, and bear in mind, lots of the reforms that have been put in place truly passed off after the Watergate scandal beneath President Nixon, the place a president was immediately concerned in sure home legal actions and appeared with the Watergate break-in. And my worry on this case is it nearly appears Nixonian. If the president requested Gabbard to indicate up down in Georgia on a home political investigation- initially, how would he know concerning the search warrant even being issued? That is not his job. After which to have the irector of nationwide intelligence down there, which is completely towards her guidelines, except there’s a overseas nexus, and he or she has not indicated any overseas nexus to us up to now.
MARGARET BRENNAN: There’s been no communication with the committee in any respect on this difficulty?
SEN. WARNER: We’ve got requested. We then subsequently discovered that this was not the primary time she was concerned in home actions. She went down and seized some voting machines in Puerto Rico earlier within the 12 months. Once more, we had no information of that. After which the query of what she was doing in Georgia. There’s been three or 4 totally different tales because it broke. First, she stated the president requested, then the president stated he did not ask her. Then he stated it was Pam Bondi, the legal professional basic. So we do not have the slightest thought aside from the truth that the entire thing stinks to excessive heaven, and the very fact is, Donald Trump can not recover from the truth that he misplaced Georgia in 2020 that he misplaced the election in 2020. My worry is now he sees the political winds turning towards him, and he’ll attempt to intrude within the 2026 election, one thing a 12 months in the past I did not suppose can be potential.
MARGARET BRENNAN: That is an incredible assertion. However simply to make clear right here, it was Reuters that first reported that Gabbard went to Puerto Rico again within the spring to grab voting machines. Was Congress knowledgeable in any respect? Did you study it within the press?
SEN. WARNER: I imagine the primary we ever heard about this was from the press itself.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Wow. So the- you’ve got laid out that the intelligence companies normally focus abroad, however the White Home is arguing that the director was there for good cause, and that federal regulation, they argue, assigns a DNI statutory accountability to steer counter intelligence issues associated to election safety, election voting system danger, software program, voter registration databases. You are involved, however are your fellow Republicans on the committee involved?
SEN. WARNER: Here is the ironic factor, Margaret, lots of the protections for our election system have been put in place throughout the first Trump administration. We arrange CISA, the cybersecurity company, to assist work with state and native elections. There was an FBI heart arrange for overseas malign affect, overseas affect. After which we put into regulation one thing referred to as the International Malign Affect Heart on the Director of Nationwide Intelligence workplace. All of these entities have been mainly disbanded. CISA lower by a 3rd. The FBI heart in the reduction of. The ODNI heart in the reduction of, which we expect is, frankly, counter to the regulation. But it surely all- in phrases the ODNI must be concerned, of overseas involvement, there was no proof of that up to now.
MARGARET BRENNAN: The place is Chair Cotton on this, although?
SEN. WARNER: We’ve got collectively been ensuring that we get updates on election safety, and I feel we see extra of that to return, as a result of that is vital. And my concern is that once we see synthetic intelligence instruments and others- it was nearly kid’s play. What occurred in 2016 China, Russia, Iran others could possibly be interfering. We have not seen proof up to now. Gabbard, if she’s obtained any proof, ought to have supplied it to the Congress. I feel this was an effort the place Donald Trump cannot recover from the truth that he misplaced Georgia so obsessed. And it begs the query is, what was Gabbard doing there? And it frankly, begs the query is- query is, why was the president even conscious of this investigation earlier than the search warrant was issued?
MARGARET BRENNAN: Effectively, we might, we might like to put these inquiries to the director, and have requested to take action. However now that you’re right here, are you able to simply button this up for me? As a result of we’re speaking about 2020, and that is what Fulton County. The main focus was about however you additionally stated, you suppose in 2026 there’s an effort to intrude. What proof do you could have of that?
SEN. WARNER: This was what I am seeing from the president’s personal feedback about nationalizing elections and placing Republicans in cost, counter to the structure. We have seen these actions in Georgia, the place may there be some effort that instantly offers him an excuse to attempt to take a few of these federalization efforts we have seen ICE. We targeted numerous this exercise on ICE when it comes to they are going rogue in Minneapolis. However there’s a very actual risk, with out reforms at ICE, that you may have ICE patrols round polling stations, and other people would say, “properly, why would that matter?” In the event that they’re all Americans–
MARGARET BRENNAN: –Noncitizens can not vote.
SEN. WARNER: –As a result of we have seen ice discriminate towards Latinos households. We have seen as properly combined households the place somebody could also be authorized and others not. And candidly, you need not do loads to discourage folks from voting, and we have extra not too long ago seen ICE beginning to use know-how the place they will get details about People. Not too long ago, there was a person in Minnesota that obtained denied a world entry card to get via TSA faster as a result of she or he appeared at a protest rally. Do we actually need ICE having that info?–
MARGARET BRENNAN: Is that what DHS stated?
SEN. WARNER: Hypothetically- that was what occurred in Minnesota. Hypothetically, if ICE is getting info, and you have an unpaid parking ticket, would you go vote in case you’ve obtained an unpaid parking ticket, considering that an ICE patrol is likely to be at a polling station, that is uncharted territory, and but you’ve got obtained the president’s personal phrases, in some ways, elevating issues, as a result of he says, properly, gosh, we Republicans should take over elections in 15 states.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We’ll discuss a few of that and the operations on the native degree with David Becker, our elections skilled forward within the present, and the immigration reform. However I need to ask you about what is going on on with Director Gabbard, as a result of there was a whistleblower who filed a grievance towards her personally and provided to return to Congress to share the knowledge. In keeping with the legal professional for this whistleblower, that is a couple of grievance that two inspectors basic, certainly one of them Biden-era, concluded had a non-credible nature. You’ve got considered a redacted model of the grievance as I perceive it. Do you settle for their conclusions?
SEN. WARNER: Effectively, initially, the earlier Inspector Basic, who’d been a long run skilled, considered it as credible. The brand new–
MARGARET BRENNAN: — Which of the 2 complaints?
SEN. WARNER: The unique- I can not discuss concerning the contents of the grievance. I am quaint. It is labeled, and the grievance is so redacted, it is arduous to get to the underside up, I obtained extra questions. My concern- what the director did, is that this info was not relayed to Congress. There’s a course of, and we did not even- we, and I imply, we the Gang of Eight, did not even hear concerning the grievance till November. We solely noticed it in February, and we have got this entire contradiction the place the then lawyer for Director Gabbard stated she shared the accountability she needed to share this with Congress in June, the obligation. She later acknowledged that she was not conscious of her accountability. Ignorance of the regulation is just not an excuse in case you’re the Director of Nationwide Intelligence.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Effectively, as I perceive it, as a result of when it is deemed non-credible, it isn’t essentially an pressing concern that will —
SEN. WARNER : — There was a ruling of urgency by the primary inspector basic. That was contradicted by the Trump Inspector Basic, however the course of was nonetheless ongoing. The truth that this sat on the market for six,7,8 months now, and we’re solely seeing it now, raises large issues in and of itself.
MARGARET BRENNAN
Effectively, I do know you stated you’ll not share what the intercept and the intelligence was about, or the grievance itself, however CBS has been advised by a senior intelligence official the whistleblower grievance included reference to an intelligence intercept between two overseas nationals through which they talked about somebody near President Donald Trump. US intelligence didn’t confirm whether or not the dialog itself was extra than simply gossip. Will you be capable to converse to the whistleblower? Will you be capable to see this underlying intelligence?
SEN. WARNER: My understanding is the whistleblower has been ready for steerage, authorized steerage, on methods to strategy the committee.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Does the whistleblower nonetheless work for the US authorities?
SEN. WARNER: I haven’t got any thought.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Will you be capable to view the intelligence, the intercept itself that she’s accused of not sharing?
SEN. WARNER: My query is- we are attempting to get each the redactions and the underlying intelligence, and that’s- that’s in course of. I am not going to speak to the content material itself, however this entire query, bear in mind, this whistleblower got here ahead in Might. It is now February of the next 12 months, and we’re nonetheless asking questions.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Tom Cotton, the chair, says he’s- he is snug with- with the method up to now, however on the–
SEN. WARNER: — I am- I am not snug with the method, the timing, and I can not make a judgment concerning the credibility or the veracity, as a result of it has been so closely redone.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Effectively, the director is pissed off with you personally, and issued this actually lengthy blistering assertion saying you’ve got repeatedly lied to the American folks, that the the media additionally lies, and that that she by no means had the whistleblower grievance in her possession and noticed it for the primary time two weeks in the past. I suppose, the precise arduous copy. So do you care to answer this accusation that you simply have been mendacity?
SEN. WARNER: I might reply that I don’t imagine that Director Gabbard is competent for her place. I do not imagine that she is making America safer by not following the principles and procedures on getting whistleblower complaints to the Congress in a well timed style. I imagine she has been completely inappropriate exhibiting up on a home legal investigation in Georgia round voting machines. I feel she has not been acceptable or competent when it comes to, frankly, reducing again on investigations into overseas malign affect, actually dismembering the overseas line affect heart that is on the Director of Nationwide Intelligence, and we’re going to conform to disagree about who’s telling the reality, and I imagine her personal basic counsel, who’s now her deputy basic counsel, testified this week that he shared with Director Gabbard, in June her authorized obligations.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Effectively, the NSA has launched a press release saying that they’re abiding by the regulation. We do invite Director Gabbard on this program. Earlier than I allow you to go, I’ve to ask you about Iran. There have been a variety of suppose tanks who’ve printed images of what they imagine is proof of Iran reconstituting and rebuilding its nuclear program that the US bombed eight months in the past. Are they rebuilding?
SEN. WARNER: After we struck Iranians nuclear capabilities, our navy did a terrific job. It was not completely obliterated. So, that normal that the President himself set and Iran has been indicated in public paperwork, is attempting to reconstitute. What I worry is that we do not have the power to convey the complete energy of strain towards Iran. Just a few weeks again, when the Iranian folks bravely have been within the streets, and there might need been a second, we could not strike, as a result of the plane provider that was normally within the Mediterranean was off the coast of Venezuela, doing the blockade there. On prime of that- on prime of that as properly, we have been unable to convey the complete power of strain of our allies in Europe towards Iran, as a result of at that exact same second, President Trump was disrupting NATO together with his Greenland play. We’re stronger once we use our allies, when we now have our full navy capabilities in area, and that navy is getting stretched, pretty much as good as we’re, because the President will get engaged in actions everywhere in the world.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You help the diplomacy underway now?
SEN. WARNER: I help the diplomacy. Completely.
MARGARET BRENNAN: All proper. Senator. Mark Warner, thanks on your time right now, Face the Nation shall be again in a single minute. Stick with us.
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