Warner questions whether Trump will interfere in 2026 midterms

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Hill

02/08/26 4:26 PM ET


Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) on Sunday questioned the possibility of President Trump interfering in the 2026 midterm elections. Warner’s concern stemmed from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s effort to gather voting records related to the 2020 presidential election, which Trump has falsely claimed he won.

“The fact is Donald Trump cannot get over the fact that he lost Georgia in 2020, that he lost the election in 2020,” Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said during an appearance on CBS News’s “Face the Nation.” “My fear is now, he sees the political winds turning against him, and is he going to try to interfere in the 2026 elections? Something a year ago I didn’t think would be possible,” he continued.

Warner’s statements follow an FBI probe of a Fulton County, Ga., election hub where agents confiscated voting ballots from the 2020 election, with Gabbard on site. Earlier in the year, she also helped authorities seize voting machines in Puerto Rico after the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said it received allegations of “discrepancies and systemic anomalies.” Warner says lawmakers were not previously informed of Gabbard’s presence during the Georgia raid.

“We have asked. OK, we then subsequently found that this was not the first time she was involved in domestic activities. She went down and seized some voting machines in Puerto Rico earlier in the year. Again, we had no knowledge of that. And then the question of what she was doing in Georgia, there’s been three or four different stories since it broke,” the Virginia senator said.

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5728862-warner-warns-trump-election/

[Irish_Dem]

1. Of course Trump will cheat. The question to ask is how is he doing it.

Trump is starting the election theft now.

[Scrivener7]

2. Do we have a plan?

[BumRushDaShow]

4. There are groups that are gearing up for it like Marc Elias' outfit

This week at Democracy Docket: Trump wants to ‘take over’ voting, while GOPers unveil a massive new suppression measure

Since states supposedly (per the Constitution but ignored by 45) control elections, then it will be up to states (and Democrats in red states plus Democrats running the blue states) and their (D)-supporting orgs, to deal with it.

Since Democrats are in the minority in Congress, other than doing everything they can to block the codification of any draconian voter legislation and making sure the DNC (and other fundraising entities like the DCCC & DSCC) to recruit and fund Democrats in every race - municipal/county/state/federal, there is not much else that can be done but pounding home to the American populace about being disenfranchised. Many of the blue cities have already put in place or are drafting things to put in place, to protect the polls from interference by 45's stormtrooper goons.

Unfortunately much of that populace didn't heed the warnings that Dems continually blasted out in 2024, dismissing it as the "same old political rhetoric and hyperbole", but hopefully they learned their lesson, and I think the results of a number of recent special elections where Democrats won and/or over-performed - particularly in locations that 45 won handily in 2024 - is a sign.

[Scrivener7]

5. Yes. And I'd love for them to let the electorate know they have a working plan.

[BumRushDaShow]

6. The National Governor's Association meets next week

which includes the "traditional" dinner one, where 45 smugly excluded Democratic governors, but their regular "winter meeting" to discuss issues -



I expect the blue state governors are going to network on the sidelines and perhaps "meet" even if by Zoom later, to do some strategizing and collaboration on this upcoming election threat. There is an organization of them - https://democraticgovernors.org/

There are currently 24 (D) governors and 26 (R) governors - https://www.multistate.us/resources/2026-governors

[Scrivener7]

7. Yes. And hopefully there will be a plan.

[BumRushDaShow]

8. Our states will have to do it

because per the SCOTUS (other than the VRA Sect. 2 and racial gerrymandering, where Roberts is determined to finish off the rest of the VRA), the states are in charge of elections. Congress only has an ancillary/peripheral role.

[Scrivener7]

9. Yes. And hopefully they will.

[BumRushDaShow]

10. Here in PA (and notably Philly), they are getting ready (and already have laws on the books)

[BumRushDaShow]

12. FYI - I just found this about 5 minutes ago and posted it

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143613707

https://www.ms.now/news/trump-election-interference-2026-midterms-politics

A lot of examples in the linked article but one example -

Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, told MS NOW that Democrats must plan for worst-case scenarios.

Smith said discussions are underway about how to send thousands of lawyers and volunteers to polling places nationwide for the midterms, a step the party usually takes only for presidential elections.

“It is 100% what we should be focused on,” Smith said. “Democrats are preparing. We want to have lawyers and volunteers making sure people can vote.”

[durablend]

3. DUH?

[Clouds Passing]

11. Probability, not possibility

[travelingthrulife]

13. Quit warning us and do something about it.

Of course they are going to try to steal it. We need outside observers.

[BumRushDaShow]

14. See upthread about what I just found and posted about

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=3613710