ODNI taps officials to coordinate response to foreign election threats

The U.S. intelligence community has begun ramping up its efforts to shield the upcoming midterms from foreign manipulation, even as the nation’s spy chief probes debunked claims about fraud in the 2020 election.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has tapped two individuals to coordinate work across U.S. spy agencies to monitor threats to the 2026 elections, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. 

Dave Mastro, an official at the National Intelligence Council, and James Cangialosi, the deputy chief of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, will jointly perform the duties of the intelligence community’s election threats executive, these people said. 

The position was created during President Donald Trump’s first term and has been responsible for convening an interagency group to evaluate, and publicize, evidence of foreign meddling.

Mastro and Cangialosi last week reiterated the spy community’s commitment to safeguarding the midterms during closed-door briefings for House and Senate Intelligence committee aides.

The pair also said the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) would follow the existing notification framework for foreign interference in U.S. elections, according to two people familiar with the discussions.

Olivia Coleman, a spokesperson for Gabbard, said ODNI has “an expansive team of professionals” working on election security, including Mastro and Cangialosi.

She also confirmed the office is “providing robust briefings, on par with efforts traditionally carried out during election years, to protect election integrity this midterm cycle.”

A spokesperson for Democrats on the House Intelligence panel said members have asked for additional briefings and “will continue to press the IC” for additional information on the topic.

The recent activity comes as Gabbard has drawn scrutiny for her role leading the administration’s effort to re-examine the 2020 election and search for potential crimes, including foreign government interference. 

The probe gained national attention, and sparked outrage from Democratic lawmakers, when Gabbard was photographed on the scene in January when the FBI raided a Georgia election office that has been part of Trump’s unproven theories that the election was stolen from him. 

Gabbard has defended her presence and later testified she did not participate in the law enforcement search but was there to observe "at the request of the president.”

She also faced criticism from Democrats after it was reported her office last year seized voting machines in Puerto Rico. Her office has insisted the action was not tied to a specific election, but rather about assessing the machines for security vulnerabilities.

Months later, the episodes left the president’s congressional allies unfazed.

“What it means is we're paying closer attention to the potential of a foreign adversary” to potentially interfere, House Intelligence Committee Chair Rick Crawford (R-AR) told Recorded Future News. “They're getting more aggressive. So there is a nexus there that the director of national intelligence should be aware of what's taking place and that was the whole purpose of that.”

The Foreign Malign Influence Center, created by Congress in 2022, had served as the intelligence community’s hub to counter election influence activities and disinformation campaigns.

U.S. intelligence officials held regular public briefings in the last election to warn of attempts by Russia and other countries to manipulate voters, including alerts about deepfake videos that spread false information about Vice President Kamala Harris.

Gabbard scaled back the center last year as part of a larger reorganization — a move backed by Republicans who argued that its attempts to counter foreign disinformation suppressed the free speech rights of conservatives — and folded its operations into other parts of ODNI.

The decision came after budget cuts by the administration reduced the size of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) by roughly 1,000 employees, more than one-third of its workforce. The agency has cut back its election security training and digital security assistance to state and local election officials.

Sen. Mark Warner (VA), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he did not attend last week’s briefing but described the session as “pretty unsatisfying.”

“You’ve decimated CISA, so even if this group in the IC were to find something, where’s the distribution model to get it out to the local election officials?” he asked.

Warner noted that cybersecurity specialists and elections experts have cautioned the 2026 cycle could prove more unpredictable because of the threat posed by artificial intelligence.

“We've already seen, in countless regards, the ability of AI to spread misinformation and disinformation,” he said. “You put that on steroids behind a Russian, Chinese, even Iranian effort to mess with our elections and that spells trouble, because you've already seen a president that will deny election results.”

“We’ve got a long way to go.”

Meanwhile, U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency personnel were told months ago to be on alert for chatter by foreign adversaries about U.S. elections. 

The two entities are expected to reconvene their joint election security group, weeks after their newly-installed chief testified he was unaware if the team would return. Proposals outlining plans for the group are expected to be sent to Gabbard and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth soon.

Crawford noted that election interference has been an “ongoing issue for many cycles now.”

“The concern is not so much about their ability to affect the outcome of a national election, for example at the presidential level, but how much impact they can have, say, at the congressional district level or at the state level?” he said. 

“And the answer is, they can have significant influence.”