DEMOCRACY UNDER THREAT

FBI Agents Reveal Nightmare Election Day Fear

FBI agents fear Trump’s Justice Department could throw next week’s vote into chaos.

FBI agents fear they could be ordered to seize ballots and voting machines on Election Day, potentially throwing the midterms into chaos, according to a new report.

Current and former bureau officials told MS NOW they fear the Trump administration could use the FBI to pursue dubious claims of election fraud.

Two former law enforcement officials told MS NOW that advocates are also preparing guidance for FBI agents who fear they have been given illegal or unethical orders.

Federal law prohibits armed agents from being deployed at polling places. But officials worry the Justice Department could seek warrants based on weak allegations of voting irregularities, allowing federal officers to seize ballots or voting equipment.

Such actions could disrupt voting and counting, compromise safeguards against tampering, and fuel doubts about the accuracy of election results.

Trump has a history of interfering with elections he doesn’t like the result of. He has repeatedly claimed, without evidence, that U.S. elections are rigged and sought to overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential election.

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And his election meddling has not stopped.

In January, the FBI seized ballots and other election materials in Fulton County, Georgia, under a warrant based largely on previously debunked allegations of fraud.

In March, the bureau obtained electronic voting records and equipment from Arizona’s review of the 2020 election in Maricopa County.

The Trump administration has also sought to force California to temporarily remove around 20,000 voters from its rolls over claims they were likely noncitizens. State officials said a partial review found many appeared to have been born in the United States, casting doubt on the administration’s allegations.

Meanwhile, last week, the Justice Department sued Alaska to block certification of a close Senate race if Republican Dan Sullivan loses, after Trump directed it to act.

And with Republicans trailing Democrats in the polls and several districts Trump won by double digits in 2024 now competitive, some FBI agents fear the administration could try to challenge the midterm results.

“I’m worried about that situation for sure,” one current FBI official said, adding that prosecutors and agents in states including Georgia and Arizona could agree to such actions.

Rob D’Amico, a former supervisory FBI agent, said he feared the bureau could be used to seize voting equipment or pursue warrants based on questionable evidence.

“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,” D’Amico said.

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He pointed to the Fulton County raid as a warning to agents who might resist such orders. Two Atlanta-based FBI analysts were fired for refusing to take part in the 2020 election investigation that led to the Fulton County ballot seizure.

“The Fulton County, Georgia, search warrant demonstrated how people who questioned such moves will be removed, and so many have already,” D’Amico said. “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.”

State officials are also preparing legal safeguards against potential federal intervention.

One state attorney general has written to federal judges seeking the chance to respond before any warrants are issued for ballots or voting equipment. The letter argues that such cases are not necessarily so urgent that judges must act without hearing the state’s position.

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Election administrators have also been planning for other possibilities, MS NOW reports, including federal agents arriving at polling places, senior election officials being taken into custody and voting sites being shut down by raids.

Some have considered using mobile voting equipment to keep affected polling places operating.

“I’m concerned about any actions that introduce uncertainty in the chain of custody of machines or ballots such that it becomes impossible to verify the true count, or introduces such doubt that no one believes the result,” one former FBI official said.

The concerns have been compounded by Attorney General Todd Blanche’s refusal to rule out post-election action. Both Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel have also declined to oppose sending federal agents to polling places.

A former senior FBI agent said the bureau had traditionally taken care to avoid even the appearance of federal interference at polling sites.

“In the past, we were extremely careful about going nowhere near polling places, and even instructing agents to go unarmed to vote, just so there was never any whiff of federal activity near a polling place,” the former agent said.

Another former official said agents feared professional retaliation or future investigations if they refused to carry out orders they believed were unlawful.

“There is a fear of backlash from the current headhunting and being subjected to future investigations because of illegal things they will possibly be made to do this cycle,” the former official said.

The broader fear, the former senior agent said, is that federal intervention could be used to challenge results, trigger prolonged legal battles and delay certification in states where the outcome goes against the administration.

“This administration is clearly willing to throw anything at the wall and see if it sticks,” the former agent said. “And even if it’s unfounded, it will find life on social media.”

The agent added: “Big picture, I’m concerned they’ll cast doubt of the results, tie states up in litigation and try to delay certification. All to avoid accountability, which, of course, is Trump and this administration’s fear.”

White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis told the Daily Beast: “Democrats are the only ones sowing doubt in elections with their secret scheme to stack Alaska’s ballot and their refusal to enact commonsense election security measures like voter ID and citizenship verification. President Trump is right: we have to have honest elections.”

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