With Election Day less than a week away, some FBI agents are worried they could be ordered to seize voting machines or take other steps that disrupt election results, according to a new report from MS NOW.
The outlet said its reporting is based on seven people with knowledge of internal discussions among FBI ranks. Current and former FBI officials told MS NOW that recent Trump administration actions, which they believe were designed to sow doubt about the election process, have left some agents deeply concerned they could be told to take legally questionable steps to chase dubious claims of election fraud. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal deliberations.
“I’m worried about that situation for sure”
“I’m worried about that situation for sure,” a current FBI official told MS NOW. “We have all the evidence we need to expect at least one U.S. attorney and one FBI agent to be willing to sign on to such actions, such as Georgia and Arizona.”
Federal law prohibits armed agents at polling places. But the officials said they fear the Justice Department could seek warrants based on thin or specious allegations of voting irregularities, warrants that could, in theory, allow armed officers to legally seize ballots or machines. Experts told MS NOW that such seizures could keep voters from casting ballots, keep officials from counting them, and break the chain of custody that protects against tampering.
Georgia and Arizona are the warning signs
The officials pointed to the FBI’s seizure of ballots in Fulton County, Georgia, in January, which MS NOW reported was carried out under a warrant based largely on previously debunked allegations of fraud in the 2020 election. In March, the FBI also obtained electronic voting records and equipment from the Republican-led review of the 2020 election in Maricopa County, Arizona, after a federal grand jury issued subpoenas to the state Senate. Neither action has resulted in criminal charges.
MS NOW reported in July that two Atlanta-based FBI intelligence analysts had been fired for refusing to take part in the administration’s investigation into the 2020 election.
“I and others are worried that the FBI will be the administration’s arm into seizing voting machines or issuing warrants on questionable probable cause,” said Rob D’Amico, a former supervisory FBI agent and MS NOW contributor. “It is going to take people of high moral character to hold the line between doing what they’re told and doing what is right and lawful.”
States are gaming out the worst case
State officials are already preparing. According to the report, one state attorney general, whose office declined to be named, sent a letter to the chief judge or judges of the state’s federal courts asking for a chance to respond before any warrant is issued for ballots or voting equipment. People who work with election officials said administrators have spent months planning for scenarios they never considered before, including federal agents showing up at polling places, a top election official being taken into custody, and using mobile voting equipment if a polling place is knocked offline by a raid.
New York Attorney General Letitia James reminded voters on Tuesday that armed federal officers are not allowed at polling places under state and federal law. Advocates for free and fair elections are also preparing ways to advise FBI agents who fear they have been handed an illegal or unethical assignment, two former law enforcement officials told MS NOW.
What the people in charge have said
Attorney General Todd Blanche recently declined to rule out post-election actions and left open the possibility that the Justice Department could try to block states from certifying midterm results. “Of course, I’m not going to say that,” he said, while adding that he had no intention to “improperly interfere with elections.”
At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in September, Sen. Richard Blumenthal asked FBI Director Kash Patel whether deploying agents to polling places on Election Day would break the law. Patel answered: “I don’t know that we can’t legally do it.” He said agents and analysts would work on election security from FBI field offices, but left open going to polling places if there were a violation of law.
The FBI did not immediately respond to MS NOW’s request for comment.
Election Day is Tuesday, November 3. If you plan to vote in person, know your rights, and know that armed federal agents are barred from polling places except in the most extreme circumstances.