{"id":31,"date":"2026-07-11T01:30:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T01:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maxinefilmes.com\/odelator\/trump-midterm-elections-takeover\/"},"modified":"2026-07-11T02:15:59","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T02:15:59","slug":"trump-midterm-elections-takeover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maxinefilmes.com\/odelator\/trump-midterm-elections-takeover\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Trump\u2019s Effort to \u201cTake Over\u201d the Midterm Elections"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><main id=\"main\" class=\"wp-block-group content p-grid-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"wp-block-group p-grid-text-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<header class=\"wp-block-group entry-header is-layout-flow wp-container-core-group-is-layout-3ce78d47 wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-propublica-opener\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group p-opener p-opener--split p-opener--left p-opener--text_art_half_half is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group p-opener__art-wrapper is-layout-flow wp-container-core-group-is-layout-a77db08e wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group p-opener__art is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group p-opener__video-wrapper is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t<video \nclass=\"js-responsive-video-switch\"\n\t\t\t\tmuted\n\t\t\t\tplaysinline\n\t\t\t\tautoplay\n\t\t\t\tloop\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-mobile-poster=\"\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-desktop-poster=\"\"\n\t\t\t><source \ntype=\"video\/mp4\"\n\t\t\t\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webGuardrails_Lead-Animation_001_square-1.mp4\"\n\t\t\t\t\tdata-mobile-src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webGuardrails_Lead-Animation_001_square-1.mp4\"\n\t\t\t\t\tdata-desktop-src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Guardrails_Lead-Animation_001_square.mp4\"\n\t\t\t\t><\/video><figcaption class=\"p-attribution screen-reader-text\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"p-attribution__credit\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tAnimation by Matt Rota and Henrike Lendowski<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div><figcaption class=\"p-attribution\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"p-attribution__credit\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tAnimation by Matt Rota and Henrike Lendowski<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group p-opener__topic-title-dek-wrapper p-opener__topic-title-dek-wrapper--valign-center is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<h1 class=\"p-opener__hed p-opener__hed--small wp-block-post-title\">Inside Trump\u2019s Effort to \u201cTake Over\u201d the Midterm Elections<\/h1>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group p-article-meta-1 p-article-meta-1--left is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"p-article-meta-1__byline wp-block-propublica-byline\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-propublica-byline__right\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-propublica-byline__content\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"wp-block-propublica-byline-text\">by <\/span><span class=\"wp-block-propublica-byline-profile\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/people\/doug-bock-clark\">Doug Bock Clark<\/a><\/span><span class=\"wp-block-propublica-byline-text\"> and <\/span><span class=\"wp-block-propublica-byline-profile\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/people\/jen-fifield\">Jen Fifield<\/a><\/span>\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"p-article-meta-1__pubdate wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2026-04-13T05:00:00-04:00\">April 13, 2026, 5:00 am<\/time><\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group p-article-meta-1__section-actions p-article-meta-1__section-actions--left is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group p-article-meta-1__section-actions-container is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-6c531013 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-propublica-news-over-audio-listen-button\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-b7003702 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-outline is-style-outline--1\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"#news-over-audio-player\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t<svg aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" 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--button-border: 1px solid var(--p-dyn-color-gray-01); --button-font-size: var(--p-scale-4);\"><!--[--><!----><button data-button-root=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><span aria-hidden=\"true\"><!--[-1--><svg role=\"img\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-width=\"2\" stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\"><title>Contrast<\/title><circle cx=\"12\" cy=\"12\" r=\"10\"><\/circle><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M12 18a6 6 0 000-12v12z\"><\/path><\/svg><!--]--><\/span><!----><!----><\/button><!----><!--]--><\/div>\n<p><!----> <label class=\"p-a11y\" for=\"dark-mode-toggle__select\">Change Appearance<\/label> <select class=\"dark-mode-toggle__select svelte-1l6vey\" id=\"dark-mode-toggle__select\" data-pp-change=\"true\" data-pp-category=\"change-mode\"><!--[--><option value=\"auto\" selected=\"\">Auto<\/option><option value=\"light\">Light<\/option><option value=\"dark\">Dark<\/option><!--]--><\/select><\/div>\n<p><!--]-->\n                <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group article-body is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<aside class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-propublica-notes--top wp-block-propublica-notes\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-propublica-note\">\n<p>ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/newsletters\/the-big-story?source=www.propublica.org&#038;placement=top-note&#038;region=national\">our biggest stories<\/a> as soon as they\u2019re published.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<div class=\"entry-content wp-block-post-content is-layout-flow wp-block-post-content-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-propublica-reporting-highlights\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Reporting Highlights<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Safeguards Destroyed:<\/strong> In advance of this year\u2019s midterm elections, President Donald Trump has systematically demolished federal guardrails that prevented him from overturning the 2020 election.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Changing of Guard:<\/strong> At least 75 career staff are gone. Two dozen appointees, including many from the election denial movement, have been hired. Ten helped try to overturn the 2020 vote.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Political Interference:<\/strong> Once-fringe actors now have access to vast powers, which they\u2019ve already used to push forward unprecedented actions that critics say amount to partisan interference.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"wp-block-propublica-reporting-highlights__disclaimer\">These highlights were written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>In mid-December 2020, federal officials responsible for protecting American elections from fraud converged in a windowless, dim, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/national-security\/interactive\/2023\/scif-room-meaning-classified\/\">fortified room<\/a> at the Justice Department\u2019s downtown Washington, D.C., headquarters.<\/p>\n<p>They had been summoned by Attorney General William Barr.<\/p>\n<p>Over the preceding weeks, Donald Trump\u2019s claims that the presidential election had been stolen from him had reached a crescendo. He\u2019d become obsessed with a conspiracy theory that voting machines in Antrim County, Michigan, had switched votes from him to Joe Biden.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>With each day, Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/www.govinfo.gov\/content\/pkg\/GPO-J6-REPORT\/html-submitted\/ch4.html\">ratcheted up the pressure<\/a> to unleash the might of the federal government to undo his defeat.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Barr interrogated experts from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, crammed in beside top FBI officials around a cheap table. He needed the group of around 10 to answer a crucial question: Was it really possible the 2020 presidential vote had been hacked?<\/p>\n<p>ProPublica\u2019s description of the previously unreported meeting comes from several people who were in the room or were briefed on the gathering. Everyone understood that the meeting represented an important moment for the nation, they said. Barr, who did not respond to requests for comment, had walked a delicate line with Trump, instructing the FBI to investigate allegations of election irregularities while declaring publicly there had been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2020\/12\/01\/940819896\/barr-says-no-election-fraud-has-been-found-by-federal-authorities\">no evidence \u201cto date\u201d of widespread fraud<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The nonpartisan specialists from CISA, backed by their FBI counterparts, explained they\u2019d unravelled what had happened in Antrim County. A clerk had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigan.gov\/-\/media\/Project\/Websites\/sos\/30lawens\/Antrim.pdf\">made a mistake<\/a> when updating ballot styles on machines, leading to a software problem that initially transferred votes from Republicans to Democrats, they said. There was no fraud, just human error \u2014 which would soon be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.freep.com\/story\/news\/local\/michigan\/2020\/12\/17\/antrim-county-hand-tally-certified-election-results\/3937898001\/?gnt-cfr=1&amp;gca-cat=p&amp;gca-uir=false&amp;gca-epti=z113516u114616e1152xxv113516&amp;gca-ft=179&amp;gca-ds=sophi\">publicly confirmed<\/a> through a hand count of the county\u2019s ballots.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video bb--size-medium p-bb--size-medium\"><video height=\"630\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1144 \/ 630;\" width=\"1144\" autoplay loop muted src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/20260410-guardrails-safe-room-anim-web-fix.mp4\" playsinline><\/video><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__credit\">Animation by Matt Rota and Henrike Lendowski<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Listening intently, Barr seemed to understand both the truth and that telling it to the president would almost certainly cost him his job.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>At the end of the meeting, Barr turned to his top deputy, made hand motions as if he was tying on a bandana and said he was going to \u201ckamikaze\u201d into the White House.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>What happened next is well known. When Barr met with Trump in the Oval Office on Dec. 14, the president launched into a monologue about how the events in Antrim County were \u201cabsolute proof\u201d that the election had been stolen. Barr waited to get a word in edgewise before telling his boss what the experts from CISA had told him.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"wp-block-propublica-aside bb--size-small-right p-bb--size-small-right\">\n<p>Do you have information you can share about federal officials working on elections or any of the individuals in this article? Reporter Doug Bock Clark can be reached at <a href=\"\/cdn-cgi\/l\/email-protection#a2e6cdd7c58cc1cec3d0c9e2d2d0cdd2d7c0cecbc1c38ccdd0c5\"><span class=\"__cf_email__\" data-cfemail=\"c8aca7bdafe6aba4a9baa388b8baa7b8bdaaa4a1aba9e6a7baaf\">[email&#160;protected]<\/span><\/a> and on Signal at 678-243-0784. Reporter Jen Fifield can be reached at <a href=\"\/cdn-cgi\/l\/email-protection#aac0cfc484ccc3ccc3cfc6ceeadad8c5dadfc8c6c3c9cb84c5d8cd\"><span class=\"__cf_email__\" data-cfemail=\"49232c27672f202f202c252d09393b26393c2b25202a2867263b2e\">[email&#160;protected]<\/span><\/a> and on Signal at 480-476-0108. If you\u2019re concerned about confidentiality, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/tips\/\">check out our advice on the most secure ways to share tips<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Then Barr offered his resignation letter, which Trump accepted. Barr left believing he\u2019d done his part to preserve democratic norms.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was saddened,\u201d Barr wrote of Trump in his memoir. \u201cIf he actually believed this stuff he had become significantly detached from reality.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Barr was one of many federal officials \u2014 most of them Trump appointees \u2014 who refused to bend to the president\u2019s demands, which only intensified after Barr was gone. Although rioters inspired by Trump managed to delay the certification of his defeat by storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, ultimately the institutional guardrails of American democracy held \u2014 barely.<\/p>\n<p>But if faced with the same tests today, the guardrails and people that held the line would largely be missing, an examination by ProPublica found.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>ProPublica scrutinized what happened the last time Trump lost a national election. Some of that happened in plain sight: After a cascade of defeats in court, Trump began <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=AbFc9T7KXA0\">pressuring state<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.azcentral.com\/in-depth\/news\/politics\/elections\/2021\/11\/17\/arizona-audit-trump-allies-pushed-to-undermine-2020-election\/6045151001\/\">local officials<\/a> to overturn the results. But more happened behind the scenes, like the meeting that helped persuade Barr to hold the line.<\/p>\n<p>Our reporting uncovered previously undisclosed aspects of a federal effort to safeguard the results of the 2020 vote, which involved at least 75 people across several agencies. Today, nearly all of those people are gone, having resigned, been fired or been reassigned, particularly in the departments of Justice and Homeland Security. That included the cybersecurity specialists who had established that the Antrim County allegations were false and reported their findings to Barr.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The people we identified as resisting attempts to overturn the 2020 results have been replaced by roughly two dozen people Trump has installed in positions that could affect elections. Ten of them actively worked to reverse the 2020 vote, and the rest are associates of such people. In some cases, ProPublica found, officials have been hired from activist groups that are pillars of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/us\/after-trumps-win-his-election-denial-movement-marches-2024-12-02\/\">election denial movement<\/a>. Experts warn that shows the movement has merged with the federal government.<\/p>\n<p>These new officials could influence how Trump reacts to the upcoming midterms as polling shows Republicans are approaching what could be a significant electoral loss, with the president\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/polls\/donald-trump-approval-rating-polls.html\">approval rating<\/a> nearing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2026\/03\/24\/trump-low-approval-rating-iran-war-poll\/89304178007\/\">record lows<\/a>, and public concern growing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2026\/04\/01\/politics\/cnn-poll-trump-approval-rating-economy\">about the weak economy<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.umass.edu\/news\/article\/new-umass-poll-finds-continued-partisan-division-and-erosion-support-president-trumps\">administration\u2019s mass deportation effort<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/politics\/2026\/03\/25\/americans-broadly-disapprove-of-u-s-military-action-in-iran\/\">war on Iran<\/a>. Seemingly in preparation to head off such a blow, Trump has stepped up his efforts to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/02\/02\/trump-nationalize-elections-2026-midterms-00760015\">\u201cnationalize\u201d the 2026 elections<\/a>, saying that <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/atrupar.com\/post\/3mdvglues2k2h\">Republicans need \u201cto take over\u201d<\/a> the midterms. Democrats who monitored Trump\u2019s attempts to block his 2020 loss have begun to question whether he will allow a \u201cblue wave,\u201d particularly if it flips control of a House of Representatives <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/2026-election\/trump-predicts-impeachment-if-republicans-lose-2026-midterms-rcna252604\">that impeached him twice<\/a> in his first term.<\/p>\n<div class=\"p-hide-print p-bb--size-full wp-block-propublica-ad-slot\">\n<div id=\"bsa-zone_1760102469343-3_123456\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>ProPublica\u2019s examination reveals new details on how the president has unleashed his loyalists to transform elections. This includes the background of this year\u2019s FBI raid <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/kevin-moncla-election-researcher-fulton-county-georgia\">in Georgia to seize 2020 election materials<\/a> and how they are using federal resources to search for noncitizens voting. Ultimately, ProPublica\u2019s reporting shows how thoroughly and expansively the Trump administration has overhauled the federal government into <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/aclu-condemns-president-trumps-executive-order-attempting-to-restrict-mail-in-voting#:~:text=These%20actions%20would%20create%20chaos,states%20that%20do%20not%20comply\">what some fear<\/a> is a vehicle for making sure elections go his way.<\/p>\n<p>ProPublica\u2019s reporting is based on interviews with roughly 30 current or former executive branch officials familiar with the work of Trump loyalists installed in election roles. Most spoke on condition of anonymity because they fear retribution, including those knowledgeable about the December 2020 Barr meeting.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration maintains its actions will make U.S. elections fairer and more secure \u2014 and keep those prohibited from voting, such as noncitizens, from doing so.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cElection integrity has always been a top priority for President Trump,\u201d White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement. \u201cThe President will do everything in his power to defend the safety and security of American elections and to ensure that only American citizens are voting in them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Spokespeople for the DOJ and DHS emphasized that their departments are focused on ensuring elections are free and fair, and that they are working closely with the states to achieve those goals. Contentions to the contrary, they say, are false.<\/p>\n<p>A few guardrails have endured, preventing Trump from fully realizing his agenda for elections. Judges <a href=\"https:\/\/www.democracydocket.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/236-2026-01-30-Memorandum-opinion.pdf\">have blocked<\/a> key parts of a March 2025 executive order in which Trump attempted to exert greater federal control over aspects of voting, and some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/idaho-voter-data-trump-justice-department\">Republican state officials<\/a> have fought back against Justice Department lawsuits demanding state voter rolls.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Late last month, Trump issued another <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/presidential-actions\/2026\/03\/ensuring-citizenship-verification-and-integrity-in-federal-elections\/\">executive order on elections<\/a> that attempts to exert unparalleled federal control over mail-in voting and voter eligibility, which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/legal\/government\/democratic-led-states-sue-block-trumps-order-tightening-mail-in-voting-2026-04-03\/\">Democrats<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/voting-rights-groups-challenge-executive-order-on-mail-in-ballots-as-illegal-interference-in-elections\">voting rights groups<\/a> are challenging in court.<\/p>\n<p>Experts say 2026 will serve as an unprecedented stress test of the integrity of American elections.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur election system withstood\u201d Trump\u2019s \u201cattacks following the 2020 election,\u201d said Sen. Alex Padilla, a California Democrat who has led the pushback to the administration\u2019s actions on elections, \u201cbut this will be an even tougher test, with more election deniers having access to federal power than ever before.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video bb--size-medium p-bb--size-medium\"><video height=\"630\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 972 \/ 630;\" width=\"972\" autoplay loop muted poster=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/20260410-guardrails-dismantling-trump-still.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/web-guardrails-Dismantling_Animation_001.mp4\" playsinline><\/video><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__credit\">Animation by Matt Rota and Henrike Lendowski<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\" id=\"h-the-dismantling\">The Dismantling<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/politics\/watch-trump-fraud-claims-like-playing-whac-a-mole-former-attorney-general-barr-says\">Barr has said<\/a> that in the high-stakes days following the 2020 election, he felt like he was playing Whac-A-Mole with Trump\u2019s \u201cavalanche\u201d of false election claims.<\/p>\n<p>The investigators at DHS\u2019 Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency supplied intelligence that disproved many of them, not just those involving Antrim County.<\/p>\n<p>CISA was created by Trump in his first term to counter cyber threats in the aftermath of Russia\u2019s efforts to influence the 2016 vote. It soon came to provide crucial expertise and support to thousands of local election officials grappling with increasingly sophisticated attacks.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>After the 2020 election, it also played a crucial part in puncturing fallacies spread by Trump supporters, producing a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox13news.com\/news\/cisa-launches-rumor-control-website-to-combat-attempts-to-undermine-2020-election-results\">\u201cRumor Control\u201d website to rebut them<\/a>. And it partnered with state officials and technology vendors <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cisa.gov\/news-events\/news\/joint-statement-elections-infrastructure-government-coordinating-council-election-infrastructure\">to release a statement<\/a> calling the election \u201cthe most secure in American history.\u201d Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2020\/11\/17\/936003057\/cisa-director-chris-krebs-fired-after-trying-to-correct-voter-fraud-disinformati\">swiftly fired<\/a> Chris Krebs, whom he had appointed to lead CISA, but Krebs\u2019 defense of the election\u2019s soundness reverberated widely in the media and on Capitol Hill.<\/p>\n<p>Among Trump\u2019s first actions upon returning to the Oval Office was eviscerating CISA.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Starting in February 2025, DHS leadership put employees focused on countering disinformation and helping safeguard elections <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextgov.com\/people\/2025\/02\/cisa-staff-focused-disinformation-and-influence-operations-put-leave\/402958\/\">on leave<\/a>. The leadership also froze <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/cisa-election-security-freeze-memo\/\">the agency\u2019s other election security work<\/a>, which included assessing local election offices for physical and cybersecurity risks, and disseminating sensitive intelligence information on threats. Eventually, all three dozen or so CISA employees specializing in elections were fired or transferred to work in other areas.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt took years of dedicated, bipartisan, cross-sector partnership to build the security infrastructure we\u2019ve had, and dismantling CISA leaves a gaping hole,\u201d said Kathy Boockvar, an elections security expert who served as Pennsylvania\u2019s secretary of state from 2019 to 2021. \u201cWe are making the job of securing our democracy exponentially harder.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"p-hide-print p-bb--size-full wp-block-propublica-ad-slot\">\n<div id=\"bsa-zone_1760102552591-0_123456\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>A DHS spokesperson told ProPublica that the changes at CISA were in response to \u201ca ballooning budget concealing a dangerous departure from its statutory mission,\u201d which included \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/judiciary.house.gov\/media\/press-releases\/new-report-reveals-cisa-tried-cover-censorship-practices\">electioneering instead of defending America\u2019s critical infrastructure<\/a>.\u201d The spokesperson said that CISA\u2019s mission is still to coordinate protection of critical infrastructure, including by supporting local partners against cyber threats.<\/p>\n<p>It isn\u2019t just CISA that\u2019s been gutted.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration has discarded or diminished other federal initiatives with roles in protecting election integrity or blocking foreign interference. While many of these actions have been reported, together they reveal the full sweep of the changes.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>First, the administration got rid of the National Security Council\u2019s election security group, which convened departmental leaders to coordinate federal actions related to voting. Then in August, the administration dismantled <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justsecurity.org\/119653\/wjh-dismantling-foreign-malign-influence-center\/\">the Foreign Malign Influence Center<\/a>, a branch of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence that had stymied efforts by Russia, China and Iran to interfere in the 2024 election.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>A spokesperson for ODNI said the center was redundant and that its functions were folded into other parts of the office\u2019s intelligence apparatus in ways that \u201carguably makes our ability to monitor and address threats from foreign adversaries stronger, more efficient and more effective.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, former national security officials, including one who had worked at the center, told ProPublica that its functions had largely ceased. Caitlin Durkovich, who led the NSC\u2019s election security work during the Biden administration, said that under Trump the federal government has \u201cabandoned\u201d its traditional role in preserving election integrity and security.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNearly every program and capability to stop bad actors and support election administrators has been dismantled,\u201d she said. \u201cHeading into the midterms, this leaves states and localities exposed, without the intelligence support or federal coordination they need to detect and respond to threats in real time \u2014 precisely when the stakes are highest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The early months of the second Trump administration also brought seismic changes to three parts of federal law enforcement with central roles in elections.<\/p>\n<p>Kash Patel, the FBI\u2019s new director, dismantled the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/justice-department\/fbi-folds-public-corruption-squad-aided-jack-smiths-trump-investigatio-rcna207029?cid=sm_npd_nn_fb_ma&amp;fbclid=IwY2xjawQXPxBleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETEyVlVEV1dKc2ZUZkNyYzlSc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHum_q81IPcnESGHr5SrG6nAB5RaFhLoTE9UD7vnGn68u6AGrWrgnylNq9FVD_aem_5WCqp8-WMgWsC9LUsIZZWw&amp;_branch_match_id=1502021104593699114&amp;utm_source=facebook&amp;utm_campaign=NBC%20News&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;_branch_referrer=H4sIAAAAAAAAAwXByVKDMAAA0L%2FxZrEoCM50HHaoTVvWCBcG0rCUECAUAx78dt9rHo9x%2FhAEWiKK%2BbwrxnFHWtoJWcTm4CgHY1R%2BViUi7e3g8VRc7wX3v6%2BrTrAbLJpok9L3VuDrLepJZ0XWlpDESva3LyRmcdadt%2FSXhOj1%2BJLyrEGuXhXQ98Hd24AJJBCht4vpcWDWEqg13V36fFL23hVRK3RcJoXMkammS0FhN6chstTYfP%2BhDpWVRdYcBllNN3KeVDsx8wL3uQSNaVSeIajhbKinePayDPKnP4YrzFhL67xkA58xOxgNG3r8D%2FXfBIz%2FAAAA\">public corruption team<\/a>, which had been deployed in previous administrations to help monitor possible criminal activity on Election Day. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/national-security\/bondi-ends-fbi-effort-combat-foreign-influence-us-politics-rcna191012\">Foreign Influence Task Force<\/a>, which aimed to combat foreign influence in U.S. politics, was also disbanded. (An FBI spokesperson said the bureau \u201cremains committed to detecting and countering foreign influence efforts by adversarial nations.\u201d)<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, the Justice Department substantially reduced the role of its Public Integrity Section, which had been responsible for making sure the department\u2019s inquiries weren\u2019t improperly influenced by politics.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>After the 2020 election, senior lawyers in the section <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2020\/11\/10\/933548664\/dojs-top-election-crimes-prosecutor-resigns-to-protest-allegations-of-election-f\">warned against<\/a> having the FBI investigate fraud claims raised by Trump allies, saying that the agency\u2019s involvement could damage its reputation and appear motivated by partisanship. In this instance, they were overruled by Barr and his deputies, but former officials said this was a rare case in which their guidance was ignored. The need to directly overrule the unit, they said, made it a roadblock \u2014 one that no longer exists.<\/p>\n<p>A month after Trump returned to the Oval Office, <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/administration\/5145882-here-are-the-doj-officials-who-resigned-over-order-to-drop-adams-case\/\">the unit\u2019s top staff resigned<\/a> when agency leaders directed them to dismiss corruption charges against then-New York City Mayor Eric Adams. More resigned later or were transferred. The 36-person section was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.notus.org\/courts\/doj-public-integrity\">reduced to two<\/a>. The administration no longer mandates that it review politically sensitive cases, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n<p>Another key DOJ office, the Civil Rights Division\u2019s voting section, had enforced federal laws that protect voting rights, particularly those that combat racial discrimination. In December 2020, the assistant attorney general overseeing the Civil Rights Division <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/118\/meeting\/house\/116064\/documents\/HHRG-118-GO00-20230607-SD016.pdf\">was one of the many department leaders who said they would resign<\/a> if Trump promoted Jeffrey Clark, a leader who supported Trump\u2019s efforts to overturn the election results, to head the department after Barr\u2019s resignation. This mass threat of resignation ultimately led Trump to not promote Clark.<\/p>\n<p>But now, nearly all of the section\u2019s roughly 30 career lawyers have resigned or been moved. This largely started last spring after Harmeet Dhillon, Trump\u2019s assistant attorney general for civil rights, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.welch.senate.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2025.07.23-Welch-Memo-DOJCRT.pdf#:~:text=This%20Section's%20new%20policy%20identifies%20as%20the,interpretations%20of%20these%20orders%20and%20federal%20law.\">put out a memo<\/a> saying their mission would shift from ensuring voting rights to enforcing Trump\u2019s executive order on elections.<\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration then <a href=\"https:\/\/www.democracydocket.com\/news-alerts\/new-doj-election-denier-voting-lawyers\/\">filled the section with conservative lawyers<\/a> who are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/27917654-03262026-tx-lulac-save-complaint-draft-final\/\">now litigating against the lawyers<\/a> they replaced. At least four of those newly appointed lawyers participated in challenging the 2020 vote or have worked with people who helped Trump try to overturn the 2020 election.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s just a shocking and depressing reversal of the federal government\u2019s role in making real the promise of nondiscrimination in voting and racial equality,\u201d said Anna Baldwin, an appellate attorney for the Civil Rights Division who resigned last year and is now one of those litigating against the Justice Department in a new role at Campaign Legal Center.<\/p>\n<p>The Justice Department didn\u2019t respond to specific questions about the dismantling of the Public Integrity Section or the change in mission for the Civil Rights Division.<\/p>\n<p>In all, at least 75 career officials who\u2019d played important roles in elections work at DHS, DOJ and other departments have left or been fired, ProPublica found.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video bb--size-medium p-bb--size-medium\"><video height=\"630\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 912 \/ 630;\" width=\"912\" autoplay loop muted poster=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/20260410-guardrails-team-america-still.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/20260410-guardrails-team-america-anim-web.mp4\" playsinline><\/video><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__credit\">Animation by Matt Rota and Henrike Lendowski<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\" id=\"h-team-america\">Team America<\/h3>\n<p>Late last summer, after the Trump administration had forced out most of the career specialists, a small group of political appointees began convening at the Department of Homeland Security\u2019s headquarters.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The group \u2014 which once called itself \u201cTeam America,\u201d according to sources familiar with the matter \u2014 looked for federal levers it could pull to make Trump\u2019s March executive order about elections a reality, an effort that has not been previously reported.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>They represented the new type of people running the show.<\/p>\n<p>Its core members included David Harvilicz, a DHS assistant secretary tasked with overseeing the security of election infrastructure, including voting machines, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dhs.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/2025-08\/25_0818_plcy_office-strategy-policy-and-plans-org-chart.pdf\">three of his top staffers<\/a>. As <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/david-harvilicz-homeland-security-voting-machines\">ProPublica has reported<\/a>, Harvilicz had co-founded an AI company with an architect of Trump\u2019s claims about Antrim County.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the setbacks the executive order had met with in court, there \u201cwas not a whole lot of discussion or disagreement\u201d about acting on the directive from Harvilicz or one of his deputies, said a former federal official who interacted with group members. \u201cIt was just us saluting to do it.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This small group was part of a wider team at DHS, DOJ and the White House seeking to push forward the president\u2019s agenda. Some of Trump\u2019s new guard are well known: After the 2020 election, Patel <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/opinion\/trump-revives-italygate-the-weirdest-2020-election-conspiracy-of-them-all\/\">pressured military officials<\/a> to help investigate a conspiracy theory about voting machines, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.govinfo.gov\/content\/pkg\/GPO-J6-TRANSCRIPT-CTRL0000034609\/pdf\/GPO-J6-TRANSCRIPT-CTRL0000034609.pdf\">a former Justice Department official<\/a>. (Patel did not respond to a request for comment but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.govinfo.gov\/content\/pkg\/GPO-J6-TRANSCRIPT-CTRL0000034609\/pdf\/GPO-J6-TRANSCRIPT-CTRL0000034609.pdf\">claimed in congressional testimony<\/a> that he did not recall the event.) Others, like Harvilicz, are more obscure but still wield consequential powers.<\/p>\n<p>These newcomers are seeking to carry out Trump\u2019s executive orders and are unlikely to push back against his false claims that American elections are rife with fraud.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Team America members have echoed or spread such material themselves.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Heather Honey, who serves under Harvilicz in a newly created position focused on elections, falsely asserted that there were more ballots cast in Pennsylvania than voters in the 2020 presidential election. Trump cited this claim, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.votebeat.org\/pennsylvania\/2024\/02\/12\/heather-honey-pennsylvania-election-integrity-eric\/\">which has been traced back to her<\/a>, while exhorting his followers to march on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>At least 11 administration appointees, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/heather-honey-dhs-election-security\">including Honey<\/a>, have ties to the Election Integrity Network, a conservative grassroots organization seeking to transform American elections. It is led by Cleta Mitchell, a lawyer who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2021\/01\/06\/953823383\/attorney-on-call-with-trump-and-georgia-officials-resigns-from-law-firm\">tried to help Trump<\/a> overturn the 2020 election. Gineen Bresso, who holds a top job in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Bresso-Gineen.pdf\">White House counsel\u2019s office<\/a>, coordinated with the network\u2019s leadership in 2024 as the Republican National Committee\u2019s election integrity chair, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/julie-adams-georgia-elections-fulton-county\">ProPublica has reported<\/a>. Since moving into government, Honey has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/election-denier-summit-trump-midterms\">maintained close ties<\/a> to Mitchell\u2019s organization, and she and at least two other federal officials have given its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/save-voter-citizenship-tool-mistakes-confusion\">members private briefings<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"p-hide-print p-bb--size-full wp-block-propublica-ad-slot\">\n<div id=\"bsa-zone_1760102804706-4_123456\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Experts say these former activists who helped forge a movement built on the idea that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump are seeking to make sure that does not happen again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe election denial movement is now interwoven within the federal government, and they are working together toward a shared goal of reshaping elections\u201d in ways that undermine the freedom to vote, said Brendan Fischer, a director at the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan, pro-democracy legal organization. \u201cIt\u2019s not just last-minute slapdash attempts to overturn the results\u201d as in 2020, \u201cbut more systematic efforts to influence how elections are run months ahead of time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In response to questions sent to DHS, Harvilicz and Honey, a DHS spokesperson disputed that they were seeking to use the department\u2019s powers to advantage Trump, writing that its employees \u201care focused on keeping our elections safe, secure, and free\u201d and working to \u201cimplement the President\u2019s policies.\u201d In response to questions about their ties to the election denial movement, the spokesperson wrote, \u201cTo meet the diverse and evolving challenges the Department faces, we hire experts with diverse backgrounds who go through a rigorous vetting process.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mitchell did not respond to detailed questions from ProPublica. The White House answered questions sent to Bresso about her connection to Mitchell\u2019s network by reiterating its commitment to making American elections secure.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Through the fall and winter, as the Justice Department demanded that states turn over confidential voter roll information, Team America worked to solve problems hindering the use of digital tools to comb the lists for noncitizens who had illegally registered to vote. Honey and others ironed out the technical details of merging information from different agencies and crafted data-sharing contracts. When Honey or others hit roadblocks, they\u2019d go to the White House or senior DHS leaders who \u201cwould come in hot\u201d to clear her path, said officials who interacted with them.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Initially, the plan was to run voter information obtained by DOJ through a Homeland Security tool called the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements system.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>More recently, according to two people familiar with the matter, Team America has worked to harness a more powerful tool used by another branch of DHS, Homeland Security Investigations, to increase its ability to search for noncitizen voters and bring criminal charges against them.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>While DHS told ProPublica that SAVE has identified more than 21,000 potential noncitizens on voter rolls in the past year, officials who have checked those results in detail have found vast inaccuracies, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/save-voter-citizenship-tool-mistakes-confusion\">as ProPublica has reported<\/a>. Most states \u2014 including those with millions of voters \u2014 have eventually marked only a few to a few hundred potential noncitizens as registered to vote, and far less have ever voted. The DHS spokesperson also called SAVE \u201csecure and reliable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As the election approaches, current and former officials and election security experts expressed concerns that Harvilicz and Honey, who\u2019ve <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/heather-honey-dhs-election-security\">espoused debunked conspiracy theories<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/david-harvilicz-homeland-security-voting-machines\">about elections<\/a>, are in positions to control the narrative around the vote\u2019s soundness.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s hard to debunk false claims \u201ccoming with the seal of the federal government,\u201d said Derek Tisler, counsel and manager with the Brennan Center for Justice\u2019s elections and government program. \u201cI certainly worry what damage that could do to voters\u2019 confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video bb--size-medium p-bb--size-medium\"><video height=\"630\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 886 \/ 630;\" width=\"886\" autoplay loop muted poster=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/20260410-guardrails-red-flags-still.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/20260410-guardrails-red-flags-anim-web.mp4\" playsinline><\/video><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__credit\">Animation by Matt Rota and Henrike Lendowski<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\" id=\"h-red-flags\">Red Flags<\/h3>\n<p>Perhaps nothing better reflects the breakdown of the guardrails that thwarted Trump\u2019s rashest impulses in 2020 than his creation last fall of a special White House post reinvestigating his loss to Biden.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In December 2020, just days after Barr rebuffed Trump\u2019s Antrim County claims, lawyers in the White House counsel\u2019s office helped prevent the president from heeding activists\u2019 call to essentially declare martial law to seize voting machines. This multihour shouting and cussing match has been called the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2021\/02\/02\/trump-oval-office-meeting-sidney-powell\">craziest meeting of the first Trump administration<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But the lawyer whom Trump hired in 2025 as his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/26927586-fulton-county-fbi-raid-search-warrant-affidavit\/\">director of election security and integrity<\/a>, Kurt Olsen, had worked to overturn Trump\u2019s loss in court in 2020 and was later <a href=\"https:\/\/www.azcourts.gov\/Portals\/0\/21\/ASC-CV230046%20-%205-4-2023%20-%20FILED%20-%20DECISION%20ORDER.pdf\">sanctioned by judges<\/a>, including for making <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailyjournal.com\/article\/387216-federal-appeals-court-split-on-attorney-sanctions-in-arizona-ballot-case\">baseless allegations<\/a> about Arizona elections.<\/p>\n<p>Olsen\u2019s work in the second Trump administration has breached the firewall between the White House and DOJ officials, established after Watergate to prevent law enforcement officers from making decisions based on political pressure, said Gary Restaino, a former U.S. attorney in Arizona.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is not a constitutional or even a statutory requirement,\u201d Restaino said, \u201cbut it\u2019s a democracy requirement to make sure that citizens throughout America understand that decisions about life and liberty are being made in an objective and consistent manner.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In a previously unreported series of events, around the end of 2025, Olsen flew to Georgia to meet with Paul Brown, the head of the FBI\u2019s Atlanta field office, according to people familiar with the matter.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Olsen wanted the FBI to seize 2020 ballots from Fulton County, a Democratic stronghold, and gave Brown a report he claimed would justify the extraordinary action. Brown and his team emphasized to Olsen that any investigation his team did would be independent and fair.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>When Brown and his team examined the report, they found that Georgia\u2019s election board had already looked into its allegations, <a href=\"https:\/\/embed.documentcloud.org\/documents\/23875958-signed_consent-order-seb-2021-181-and-2022-025-fulton-county-with-exhibit-a_redacted\/?embed=1\">dismissing many altogether<\/a>, and concluding that others came down to human error, not criminal wrongdoing. The report had been assembled by a longtime ally of Olsen\u2019s and participant in the Election Integrity Network who had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/kevin-moncla-election-researcher-fulton-county-georgia\">a history of discredited claims<\/a>, ProPublica has reported.<\/p>\n<p>Based on their own investigation, Brown\u2019s team submitted an affidavit to their superiors at DOJ that did not make a strong enough case to move forward with what Olsen wanted.<\/p>\n<p>Soon after, Brown was offered a choice: retire or be moved to a new office, people with knowledge of the exchange told ProPublica.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Olsen did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n<p>An FBI spokesperson said that Brown \u201celected to retire\u201d and that its \u201cwork in the election security space is entirely consistent with the law.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Brown\u2019s ouster after refusing to carry out the seizure of 2020 election materials <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ms.now\/news\/atlanta-fbi-boss-ousted-after-balking-at-2020-election-probe\">has been reported<\/a>, but Olsen\u2019s involvement and the details of their interactions leading to Brown\u2019s retirement have not been previously disclosed.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>With Brown gone, the case moved ahead under his replacement.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"p-hide-print p-bb--size-full wp-block-propublica-ad-slot\">\n<div id=\"bsa-zone_1760102962444-4_123456\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Trump administration officials also took another step to keep control of the investigation.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Then-Attorney General Pam Bondi chose <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bloomberglaw.com\/us-law-week\/bondi-hands-st-louis-prosecutor-nationwide-election-fraud-remit\">Thomas Albus<\/a>, whom Trump had appointed as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri, to prosecute the case even though it fell far outside his usual regional jurisdiction. Albus had been meeting with Olsen since around the time the White House lawyer was hired, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/thomas-albus-fulton-county-georgia-election-records\">ProPublica has reported<\/a>. (Albus declined a request for comment.)<\/p>\n<p>In late January, the FBI carried out an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/fbi-fulton-county-voting-records-search-warrant\">unprecedented raid<\/a> in Fulton County \u2014 and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/26927586-fulton-county-fbi-raid-search-warrant-affidavit\/?q=Oversight&amp;mode=document#document\/p16\">the agency\u2019s affidavit<\/a>, put together by Albus and Brown\u2019s replacement, cited a version of the report Olsen gave to Brown as evidence supporting the seizure. ProPublica was part of a news coalition that sued to unseal the affidavit.<\/p>\n<p>An FBI spokesperson said that its agents \u201cfollowed all procedure to ensure everything was in proper order, and FBI evidence team had the necessary court-authorized search warrant before they arrived on site.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Ryan Crosswell, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/national-security\/2025\/03\/05\/ryan-crosswell-resignation-text-justice-public-integrity\/\">who worked<\/a> in the Justice Department\u2019s Public Integrity Section for around half a decade, handling a number of election cases, called Brown\u2019s replacement and Albus\u2019 involvement a \u201cred flag\u201d because of the unusual circumstances of their appointments.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re just moving through people until they find someone who\u2019s willing to do exactly what they want,\u201d Crosswell said.<\/p>\n<p>The Justice Department did not respond to a question about Crosswell\u2019s comment.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The extraordinary raid was also enabled in a previously unreported way by the destruction of the DOJ\u2019s Public Integrity Section.<\/p>\n<p>Multiple former lawyers for the section said they likely would have tried to block the Fulton County investigation because it lacked strong evidence, had a clear political slant and went against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/jm\/jm-9-85000-protection-government-integrity\">department directives<\/a> that actions should not be taken \u201cfor the purpose of giving an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate or political party.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Crosswell said, \u201cBased on everything we know, if PIN was still there, we\u2019d say no.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>John Keller was principal deputy chief of the Public Integrity Section from 2020 to 2025 and was acting chief when he resigned in early 2025. He worries that allegations of irregularities in the upcoming election will be handled on a partisan basis. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWithout that review and without apolitical, objective, honest brokers involved in the process, there is a much greater risk for intentional manipulation or inadvertent interference,\u201d Keller said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video bb--size-medium p-bb--size-medium\"><video height=\"630\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 966 \/ 630;\" width=\"966\" autoplay loop muted poster=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/20260410-guardrails-dismantling-brain-still.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/20260410-guardrails-dismantling-brain-anim-web-fix.mp4\" playsinline><\/video><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__credit\">Animation by Matt Rota and Henrike Lendowski<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\" id=\"h-dismantling-the-brain\">\u201cDismantling the Brain\u201d<\/h3>\n<p>The week the FBI seized Fulton County\u2019s ballots, about half of the nation\u2019s secretaries of state converged on Washington, D.C., for their winter conference.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>They had urgent questions about elections for Bondi, then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and other luminaries who had promised to appear at the event. But none of the headline names showed, leaving conference attendees staring at an empty podium, until the session was abruptly canceled.<\/p>\n<p>The breakdown was emblematic of a widening chasm between state officials and the parts of the federal government that had, until recently, worked with them to secure American elections.<\/p>\n<p>Shenna Bellows, Maine\u2019s Democratic secretary of state, said in an interview that the trust between the Trump administration and states is \u201cabsolutely demolished.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This loss of trust reflects that election deniers have assumed so many top roles at federal agencies. Honey sometimes represents DHS on cross-departmental conference calls with state election chiefs, an unsettling reality for those who spent years countering the false claims she made from outside the government.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>On a February call, state officials expressed confusion about whether the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency would still assess their election systems for physical and cyber vulnerabilities. Honey said it would, but Bellows said she\u2019d been told it wouldn\u2019t.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Two DHS officials told ProPublica CISA\u2019s remaining staff avoids election work, afraid they could lose their jobs if they engage with state and local officials. \u201cIn CISA, elections are a toxic poison,\u201d one said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>A DHS spokesperson said state and federal officials are still working together \u201cevery single day\u201d to protect elections and that \u201cThe claim that DHS has a broken partnership with states and made our elections less secure is simply false.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The cuts to career election specialists and their divisions have eliminated information channels that spotlighted threats as voting took place, including Election Day command posts run by the Justice Department and FBI. Another information channel, which DHS used to fund, will still operate but will be available only to state and local election offices, not the federal government.<\/p>\n<p>Jessica Cadigan, a former FBI intelligence analyst who investigated Election Day threats, said FBI headquarters\u2019 command post was critical to her cases.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is dismantling the brain, if you will,\u201d she said. \u201cThey are the ones that piece the whole thing together.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>An FBI spokesperson said the agency will still have capabilities to monitor the situation on the ground through designated election crimes coordinator experts in all its field offices.<\/p>\n<p>Jena Griswold, Colorado\u2019s Democratic secretary of state, has come to see the federal government as adversarial to elections and election administration, rather than a partner.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Colorado is one of around 30 states the Justice Department has sued for confidential voter roll information. At least four courts that have fully considered those cases so far have dismissed them, although the Justice Department has appealed most of the decisions. (The others are pending.) Griswold told ProPublica she has added another lawyer to her staff to fight whatever comes next from the Trump administration.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDonald Trump,\u201d she said, \u201chas made American elections less safe.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"wp-block-query is-layout-flow wp-block-query-is-layout-flow\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading screen-reader-text\">Corrections<\/h2>\n<\/aside>\n<aside class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-propublica-notes--bottom wp-block-propublica-notes\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-propublica-note--contributor-line wp-block-propublica-note\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/people\/mollie-simon\">Mollie Simon<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/people\/misty-harris\">Misty Harris<\/a> contributed research. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/people\/william-turton\">William Turton<\/a> contributed reporting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<footer class=\"wp-block-group entry-footer is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-template-part\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-query is-layout-flow wp-block-query-is-layout-flow\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading screen-reader-text\">Contributors<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"rich-byline-group wp-block-post-template is-layout-flow wp-block-post-template-is-layout-flow\">\n<li class=\"wp-block-post post-513 profile type-profile status-publish has-post-thumbnail hentry\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group rich-byline-group__inner is-content-justification-left is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-ed87f293 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure style=\"aspect-ratio:1;width:70px;height:70px;\" class=\"is-style-rounded is-style-rounded--1 wp-block-post-featured-image\"><a aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/people\/doug-bock-clark\" target=\"_self\"  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class=\"wp-block-social-link-label screen-reader-text\">LinkedIn<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-propublica-dek\">\n\tI\u2019m a ProPublica reporter covering threats to democracy, elections and voting rights.<\/p>\n<p>                <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script type=\"application\/json\" class=\"svelte-config\">\n                    {\n            \"componentName\": \"ContactToolsRebrand\",\n            \"props\": {\n                \"emailAddress\": \"doug.bock.clark@propublica.org\",\n                \"signalNumber\": \"678-243-0784\",\n                \"signalUsername\": \"\",\n                \"phoneNumber\": \"678-243-0784\",\n                \"buttonText\": \"Have a Tip for a Story?\",\n                \"buttonProps\": {}\n            },\n            \"contextArray\": []\n        }\n                <\/script><\/p>\n<div style=\"display: contents\">\n                    <!--[--><\/p>\n<div class=\"contact-tools\" data-pp-click=\"\" data-pp-location=\"contact tools\"><!--[--><!--[--><!--$s1--><!--[0--><\/p>\n<div class=\"svelte-1ear6bd\" style=\"display: contents; --button-bg-color: var(--p-dyn-color-black); --button-text-color: var(--p-dyn-color-white); --button-border: none; --button-font-size: var(--p-scale-3);\"><!--[--><!----><button data-button-root=\"true\" type=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" id=\"bits-s1\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-expanded=\"false\" data-state=\"closed\" data-popover-trigger=\"\"><!---->Have a Tip for a Story?<!----><!----><\/button><!----><!--]--><\/div>\n<p><!----><!--]--><!----><!--]--> <!--[--><!--[-1--><!--]--><!--]--><!----><!----><!--]--><\/div>\n<p><!--]-->\n                <\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group rich-byline__contact-prompt-tail is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"rich-byline__contact-prompt\">I welcome tips about how politicians, activists, and others are trying to transform American elections for partisan advantage. I am also interested in tips about North Carolina\u2019s legislature, court system, and state government.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"wp-block-post post-43117 profile type-profile status-publish hentry\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group rich-byline-group__inner is-content-justification-left is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-ed87f293 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-15957e15 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-3f9e86ef wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-post-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/people\/jen-fifield\" target=\"_self\" >Jen Fifield<\/a><\/h3>\n<div class=\"alignleft wp-block-propublica-profile-social-links\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-social-links alignleft has-small-icon-size has-icon-color has-icon-background-color is-layout-flex 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class=\"wp-block-social-link-anchor\"><svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.1\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\"><path d=\"M16.3 11.3c-.1 0-.2-.1-.2-.1-.1-2.6-1.5-4-3.9-4-1.4 0-2.6.6-3.3 1.7l1.3.9c.5-.8 1.4-1 2-1 .8 0 1.4.2 1.7.7.3.3.5.8.5 1.3-.7-.1-1.4-.2-2.2-.1-2.2.1-3.7 1.4-3.6 3.2 0 .9.5 1.7 1.3 2.2.7.4 1.5.6 2.4.6 1.2-.1 2.1-.5 2.7-1.3.5-.6.8-1.4.9-2.4.6.3 1 .8 1.2 1.3.4.9.4 2.4-.8 3.6-1.1 1.1-2.3 1.5-4.3 1.5-2.1 0-3.8-.7-4.8-2S5.7 14.3 5.7 12c0-2.3.5-4.1 1.5-5.4 1.1-1.3 2.7-2 4.8-2 2.2 0 3.8.7 4.9 2 .5.7.9 1.5 1.2 2.5l1.5-.4c-.3-1.2-.8-2.2-1.5-3.1-1.3-1.7-3.3-2.6-6-2.6-2.6 0-4.7.9-6 2.6C4.9 7.2 4.3 9.3 4.3 12s.6 4.8 1.9 6.4c1.4 1.7 3.4 2.6 6 2.6 2.3 0 4-.6 5.3-2 1.8-1.8 1.7-4 1.1-5.4-.4-.9-1.2-1.7-2.3-2.3zm-4 3.8c-1 .1-2-.4-2-1.3 0-.7.5-1.5 2.1-1.6h.5c.6 0 1.1.1 1.6.2-.2 2.3-1.3 2.7-2.2 2.7z\"\/><\/svg><span class=\"wp-block-social-link-label screen-reader-text\">Threads<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li 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c0.356-0.675,1.227-1.387,2.526-1.387c2.703,0,3.203,1.779,3.203,4.092V18.338z\"><\/path><\/svg><span class=\"wp-block-social-link-label screen-reader-text\">LinkedIn<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-propublica-dek\">\n\tI\u2019m a ProPublica reporter covering election-related issues, voting rights and threats to democracy.<\/p>\n<p>                <script type=\"application\/json\" class=\"svelte-config\">\n                    {\n            \"componentName\": \"ContactToolsRebrand\",\n            \"props\": {\n                \"emailAddress\": \"jen.fifield@propublica.org\",\n                \"signalNumber\": \"\",\n                \"signalUsername\": \"jenafifield.01\",\n                \"phoneNumber\": \"480-476-0108\",\n                \"buttonText\": \"Have a Tip for a Story?\",\n                \"buttonProps\": {}\n            },\n            \"contextArray\": []\n        }\n                <\/script><\/p>\n<div style=\"display: contents\">\n       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(To inquire about syndication or licensing opportunities, contact <a href=\"\/cdn-cgi\/l\/email-protection#107c7973757e63797e775060627f6065727c7973713e7f6277\"><span class=\"__cf_email__\" data-cfemail=\"f09c9993959e83999e97b080829f8085929c999391de9f8297\">[email&#160;protected]<\/span><\/a>.)\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\tYou can&#039;t use our work to populate a website designed to improve rankings on search engines or solely to gain revenue from network-based advertisements.\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\tWe do not generally permit translation of our stories into another language.\n\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\tAny website our stories appear on must include a prominent and effective way to contact you.\t\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-propublica-republish-link__modal__copy\">\n\t<label><br \/>\n\t\t<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">HTML<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t<textarea readonly tabindex=\"-1\"><\/p>\n<h1>Inside Trump\u2019s Effort to \u201cTake Over\u201d the Midterm Elections<\/h1>\n<p>In mid-December 2020, federal officials responsible for protecting American elections from fraud converged in a windowless, dim, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/national-security\/interactive\/2023\/scif-room-meaning-classified\/\">fortified room<\/a> at the Justice Department\u2019s downtown Washington, D.C., headquarters.<\/p>\n<p>They had been summoned by Attorney General William Barr.<\/p>\n<p>Over the preceding weeks, Donald Trump\u2019s claims that the presidential election had been stolen from him had reached a crescendo. He\u2019d become obsessed with a conspiracy theory that voting machines in Antrim County, Michigan, had switched votes from him to Joe Biden.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>With each day, Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/www.govinfo.gov\/content\/pkg\/GPO-J6-REPORT\/html-submitted\/ch4.html\">ratcheted up the pressure<\/a> to unleash the might of the federal government to undo his defeat.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Barr interrogated experts from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, crammed in beside top FBI officials around a cheap table. He needed the group of around 10 to answer a crucial question: Was it really possible the 2020 presidential vote had been hacked?<\/p>\n<p>ProPublica\u2019s description of the previously unreported meeting comes from several people who were in the room or were briefed on the gathering. Everyone understood that the meeting represented an important moment for the nation, they said. Barr, who did not respond to requests for comment, had walked a delicate line with Trump, instructing the FBI to investigate allegations of election irregularities while declaring publicly there had been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2020\/12\/01\/940819896\/barr-says-no-election-fraud-has-been-found-by-federal-authorities\">no evidence \u201cto date\u201d of widespread fraud<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The nonpartisan specialists from CISA, backed by their FBI counterparts, explained they\u2019d unravelled what had happened in Antrim County. A clerk had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigan.gov\/-\/media\/Project\/Websites\/sos\/30lawens\/Antrim.pdf\">made a mistake<\/a> when updating ballot styles on machines, leading to a software problem that initially transferred votes from Republicans to Democrats, they said. There was no fraud, just human error \u2014 which would soon be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.freep.com\/story\/news\/local\/michigan\/2020\/12\/17\/antrim-county-hand-tally-certified-election-results\/3937898001\/?gnt-cfr=1&amp;gca-cat=p&amp;gca-uir=false&amp;gca-epti=z113516u114616e1152xxv113516&amp;gca-ft=179&amp;gca-ds=sophi\">publicly confirmed<\/a> through a hand count of the county\u2019s ballots.<\/p>\n<p>Listening intently, Barr seemed to understand both the truth and that telling it to the president would almost certainly cost him his job.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>At the end of the meeting, Barr turned to his top deputy, made hand motions as if he was tying on a bandana and said he was going to \u201ckamikaze\u201d into the White House.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>What happened next is well known. When Barr met with Trump in the Oval Office on Dec. 14, the president launched into a monologue about how the events in Antrim County were \u201cabsolute proof\u201d that the election had been stolen. Barr waited to get a word in edgewise before telling his boss what the experts from CISA had told him.<\/p>\n<p>Then Barr offered his resignation letter, which Trump accepted. Barr left believing he\u2019d done his part to preserve democratic norms.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was saddened,\u201d Barr wrote of Trump in his memoir. \u201cIf he actually believed this stuff he had become significantly detached from reality.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Barr was one of many federal officials \u2014 most of them Trump appointees \u2014 who refused to bend to the president\u2019s demands, which only intensified after Barr was gone. Although rioters inspired by Trump managed to delay the certification of his defeat by storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, ultimately the institutional guardrails of American democracy held \u2014 barely.<\/p>\n<p>But if faced with the same tests today, the guardrails and people that held the line would largely be missing, an examination by ProPublica found.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>ProPublica scrutinized what happened the last time Trump lost a national election. Some of that happened in plain sight: After a cascade of defeats in court, Trump began <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=AbFc9T7KXA0\">pressuring state<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.azcentral.com\/in-depth\/news\/politics\/elections\/2021\/11\/17\/arizona-audit-trump-allies-pushed-to-undermine-2020-election\/6045151001\/\">local officials<\/a> to overturn the results. But more happened behind the scenes, like the meeting that helped persuade Barr to hold the line.<\/p>\n<p>Our reporting uncovered previously undisclosed aspects of a federal effort to safeguard the results of the 2020 vote, which involved at least 75 people across several agencies. Today, nearly all of those people are gone, having resigned, been fired or been reassigned, particularly in the departments of Justice and Homeland Security. That included the cybersecurity specialists who had established that the Antrim County allegations were false and reported their findings to Barr.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The people we identified as resisting attempts to overturn the 2020 results have been replaced by roughly two dozen people Trump has installed in positions that could affect elections. Ten of them actively worked to reverse the 2020 vote, and the rest are associates of such people. In some cases, ProPublica found, officials have been hired from activist groups that are pillars of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/us\/after-trumps-win-his-election-denial-movement-marches-2024-12-02\/\">election denial movement<\/a>. Experts warn that shows the movement has merged with the federal government.<\/p>\n<p>These new officials could influence how Trump reacts to the upcoming midterms as polling shows Republicans are approaching what could be a significant electoral loss, with the president\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/polls\/donald-trump-approval-rating-polls.html\">approval rating<\/a> nearing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2026\/03\/24\/trump-low-approval-rating-iran-war-poll\/89304178007\/\">record lows<\/a>, and public concern growing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2026\/04\/01\/politics\/cnn-poll-trump-approval-rating-economy\">about the weak economy<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.umass.edu\/news\/article\/new-umass-poll-finds-continued-partisan-division-and-erosion-support-president-trumps\">administration\u2019s mass deportation effort<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/politics\/2026\/03\/25\/americans-broadly-disapprove-of-u-s-military-action-in-iran\/\">war on Iran<\/a>. Seemingly in preparation to head off such a blow, Trump has stepped up his efforts to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/02\/02\/trump-nationalize-elections-2026-midterms-00760015\">\u201cnationalize\u201d the 2026 elections<\/a>, saying that <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/atrupar.com\/post\/3mdvglues2k2h\">Republicans need \u201cto take over\u201d<\/a> the midterms. Democrats who monitored Trump\u2019s attempts to block his 2020 loss have begun to question whether he will allow a \u201cblue wave,\u201d particularly if it flips control of a House of Representatives <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/2026-election\/trump-predicts-impeachment-if-republicans-lose-2026-midterms-rcna252604\">that impeached him twice<\/a> in his first term.<\/p>\n<p>ProPublica\u2019s examination reveals new details on how the president has unleashed his loyalists to transform elections. This includes the background of this year\u2019s FBI raid <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/kevin-moncla-election-researcher-fulton-county-georgia\">in Georgia to seize 2020 election materials<\/a> and how they are using federal resources to search for noncitizens voting. Ultimately, ProPublica\u2019s reporting shows how thoroughly and expansively the Trump administration has overhauled the federal government into <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/aclu-condemns-president-trumps-executive-order-attempting-to-restrict-mail-in-voting#:~:text=These%20actions%20would%20create%20chaos,states%20that%20do%20not%20comply\">what some fear<\/a> is a vehicle for making sure elections go his way.<\/p>\n<p>ProPublica\u2019s reporting is based on interviews with roughly 30 current or former executive branch officials familiar with the work of Trump loyalists installed in election roles. Most spoke on condition of anonymity because they fear retribution, including those knowledgeable about the December 2020 Barr meeting.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration maintains its actions will make U.S. elections fairer and more secure \u2014 and keep those prohibited from voting, such as noncitizens, from doing so.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cElection integrity has always been a top priority for President Trump,\u201d White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement. \u201cThe President will do everything in his power to defend the safety and security of American elections and to ensure that only American citizens are voting in them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Spokespeople for the DOJ and DHS emphasized that their departments are focused on ensuring elections are free and fair, and that they are working closely with the states to achieve those goals. Contentions to the contrary, they say, are false.<\/p>\n<p>A few guardrails have endured, preventing Trump from fully realizing his agenda for elections. Judges <a href=\"https:\/\/www.democracydocket.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/236-2026-01-30-Memorandum-opinion.pdf\">have blocked<\/a> key parts of a March 2025 executive order in which Trump attempted to exert greater federal control over aspects of voting, and some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/idaho-voter-data-trump-justice-department\">Republican state officials<\/a> have fought back against Justice Department lawsuits demanding state voter rolls.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Late last month, Trump issued another <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/presidential-actions\/2026\/03\/ensuring-citizenship-verification-and-integrity-in-federal-elections\/\">executive order on elections<\/a> that attempts to exert unparalleled federal control over mail-in voting and voter eligibility, which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/legal\/government\/democratic-led-states-sue-block-trumps-order-tightening-mail-in-voting-2026-04-03\/\">Democrats<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/voting-rights-groups-challenge-executive-order-on-mail-in-ballots-as-illegal-interference-in-elections\">voting rights groups<\/a> are challenging in court.<\/p>\n<p>Experts say 2026 will serve as an unprecedented stress test of the integrity of American elections.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur election system withstood\u201d Trump\u2019s \u201cattacks following the 2020 election,\u201d said Sen. Alex Padilla, a California Democrat who has led the pushback to the administration\u2019s actions on elections, \u201cbut this will be an even tougher test, with more election deniers having access to federal power than ever before.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>The Dismantling<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/politics\/watch-trump-fraud-claims-like-playing-whac-a-mole-former-attorney-general-barr-says\">Barr has said<\/a> that in the high-stakes days following the 2020 election, he felt like he was playing Whac-A-Mole with Trump\u2019s \u201cavalanche\u201d of false election claims.<\/p>\n<p>The investigators at DHS\u2019 Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency supplied intelligence that disproved many of them, not just those involving Antrim County.<\/p>\n<p>CISA was created by Trump in his first term to counter cyber threats in the aftermath of Russia\u2019s efforts to influence the 2016 vote. It soon came to provide crucial expertise and support to thousands of local election officials grappling with increasingly sophisticated attacks.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>After the 2020 election, it also played a crucial part in puncturing fallacies spread by Trump supporters, producing a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox13news.com\/news\/cisa-launches-rumor-control-website-to-combat-attempts-to-undermine-2020-election-results\">\u201cRumor Control\u201d website to rebut them<\/a>. And it partnered with state officials and technology vendors <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cisa.gov\/news-events\/news\/joint-statement-elections-infrastructure-government-coordinating-council-election-infrastructure\">to release a statement<\/a> calling the election \u201cthe most secure in American history.\u201d Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2020\/11\/17\/936003057\/cisa-director-chris-krebs-fired-after-trying-to-correct-voter-fraud-disinformati\">swiftly fired<\/a> Chris Krebs, whom he had appointed to lead CISA, but Krebs\u2019 defense of the election\u2019s soundness reverberated widely in the media and on Capitol Hill.<\/p>\n<p>Among Trump\u2019s first actions upon returning to the Oval Office was eviscerating CISA.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Starting in February 2025, DHS leadership put employees focused on countering disinformation and helping safeguard elections <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextgov.com\/people\/2025\/02\/cisa-staff-focused-disinformation-and-influence-operations-put-leave\/402958\/\">on leave<\/a>. The leadership also froze <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/cisa-election-security-freeze-memo\/\">the agency\u2019s other election security work<\/a>, which included assessing local election offices for physical and cybersecurity risks, and disseminating sensitive intelligence information on threats. Eventually, all three dozen or so CISA employees specializing in elections were fired or transferred to work in other areas.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt took years of dedicated, bipartisan, cross-sector partnership to build the security infrastructure we\u2019ve had, and dismantling CISA leaves a gaping hole,\u201d said Kathy Boockvar, an elections security expert who served as Pennsylvania\u2019s secretary of state from 2019 to 2021. \u201cWe are making the job of securing our democracy exponentially harder.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A DHS spokesperson told ProPublica that the changes at CISA were in response to \u201ca ballooning budget concealing a dangerous departure from its statutory mission,\u201d which included \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/judiciary.house.gov\/media\/press-releases\/new-report-reveals-cisa-tried-cover-censorship-practices\">electioneering instead of defending America\u2019s critical infrastructure<\/a>.\u201d The spokesperson said that CISA\u2019s mission is still to coordinate protection of critical infrastructure, including by supporting local partners against cyber threats.<\/p>\n<p>It isn\u2019t just CISA that\u2019s been gutted.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration has discarded or diminished other federal initiatives with roles in protecting election integrity or blocking foreign interference. While many of these actions have been reported, together they reveal the full sweep of the changes.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>First, the administration got rid of the National Security Council\u2019s election security group, which convened departmental leaders to coordinate federal actions related to voting. Then in August, the administration dismantled <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justsecurity.org\/119653\/wjh-dismantling-foreign-malign-influence-center\/\">the Foreign Malign Influence Center<\/a>, a branch of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence that had stymied efforts by Russia, China and Iran to interfere in the 2024 election.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>A spokesperson for ODNI said the center was redundant and that its functions were folded into other parts of the office\u2019s intelligence apparatus in ways that \u201carguably makes our ability to monitor and address threats from foreign adversaries stronger, more efficient and more effective.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, former national security officials, including one who had worked at the center, told ProPublica that its functions had largely ceased. Caitlin Durkovich, who led the NSC\u2019s election security work during the Biden administration, said that under Trump the federal government has \u201cabandoned\u201d its traditional role in preserving election integrity and security.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNearly every program and capability to stop bad actors and support election administrators has been dismantled,\u201d she said. \u201cHeading into the midterms, this leaves states and localities exposed, without the intelligence support or federal coordination they need to detect and respond to threats in real time \u2014 precisely when the stakes are highest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The early months of the second Trump administration also brought seismic changes to three parts of federal law enforcement with central roles in elections.<\/p>\n<p>Kash Patel, the FBI\u2019s new director, dismantled the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/justice-department\/fbi-folds-public-corruption-squad-aided-jack-smiths-trump-investigatio-rcna207029?cid=sm_npd_nn_fb_ma&amp;fbclid=IwY2xjawQXPxBleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETEyVlVEV1dKc2ZUZkNyYzlSc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHum_q81IPcnESGHr5SrG6nAB5RaFhLoTE9UD7vnGn68u6AGrWrgnylNq9FVD_aem_5WCqp8-WMgWsC9LUsIZZWw&amp;_branch_match_id=1502021104593699114&amp;utm_source=facebook&amp;utm_campaign=NBC%20News&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;_branch_referrer=H4sIAAAAAAAAAwXByVKDMAAA0L%2FxZrEoCM50HHaoTVvWCBcG0rCUECAUAx78dt9rHo9x%2FhAEWiKK%2BbwrxnFHWtoJWcTm4CgHY1R%2BViUi7e3g8VRc7wX3v6%2BrTrAbLJpok9L3VuDrLepJZ0XWlpDESva3LyRmcdadt%2FSXhOj1%2BJLyrEGuXhXQ98Hd24AJJBCht4vpcWDWEqg13V36fFL23hVRK3RcJoXMkammS0FhN6chstTYfP%2BhDpWVRdYcBllNN3KeVDsx8wL3uQSNaVSeIajhbKinePayDPKnP4YrzFhL67xkA58xOxgNG3r8D%2FXfBIz%2FAAAA\">public corruption team<\/a>, which had been deployed in previous administrations to help monitor possible criminal activity on Election Day. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/national-security\/bondi-ends-fbi-effort-combat-foreign-influence-us-politics-rcna191012\">Foreign Influence Task Force<\/a>, which aimed to combat foreign influence in U.S. politics, was also disbanded. (An FBI spokesperson said the bureau \u201cremains committed to detecting and countering foreign influence efforts by adversarial nations.\u201d)<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, the Justice Department substantially reduced the role of its Public Integrity Section, which had been responsible for making sure the department\u2019s inquiries weren\u2019t improperly influenced by politics.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>After the 2020 election, senior lawyers in the section <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2020\/11\/10\/933548664\/dojs-top-election-crimes-prosecutor-resigns-to-protest-allegations-of-election-f\">warned against<\/a> having the FBI investigate fraud claims raised by Trump allies, saying that the agency\u2019s involvement could damage its reputation and appear motivated by partisanship. In this instance, they were overruled by Barr and his deputies, but former officials said this was a rare case in which their guidance was ignored. The need to directly overrule the unit, they said, made it a roadblock \u2014 one that no longer exists.<\/p>\n<p>A month after Trump returned to the Oval Office, <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/administration\/5145882-here-are-the-doj-officials-who-resigned-over-order-to-drop-adams-case\/\">the unit\u2019s top staff resigned<\/a> when agency leaders directed them to dismiss corruption charges against then-New York City Mayor Eric Adams. More resigned later or were transferred. The 36-person section was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.notus.org\/courts\/doj-public-integrity\">reduced to two<\/a>. The administration no longer mandates that it review politically sensitive cases, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n<p>Another key DOJ office, the Civil Rights Division\u2019s voting section, had enforced federal laws that protect voting rights, particularly those that combat racial discrimination. In December 2020, the assistant attorney general overseeing the Civil Rights Division <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/118\/meeting\/house\/116064\/documents\/HHRG-118-GO00-20230607-SD016.pdf\">was one of the many department leaders who said they would resign<\/a> if Trump promoted Jeffrey Clark, a leader who supported Trump\u2019s efforts to overturn the election results, to head the department after Barr\u2019s resignation. This mass threat of resignation ultimately led Trump to not promote Clark.<\/p>\n<p>But now, nearly all of the section\u2019s roughly 30 career lawyers have resigned or been moved. This largely started last spring after Harmeet Dhillon, Trump\u2019s assistant attorney general for civil rights, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.welch.senate.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2025.07.23-Welch-Memo-DOJCRT.pdf#:~:text=This%20Section's%20new%20policy%20identifies%20as%20the,interpretations%20of%20these%20orders%20and%20federal%20law.\">put out a memo<\/a> saying their mission would shift from ensuring voting rights to enforcing Trump\u2019s executive order on elections.<\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration then <a href=\"https:\/\/www.democracydocket.com\/news-alerts\/new-doj-election-denier-voting-lawyers\/\">filled the section with conservative lawyers<\/a> who are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/27917654-03262026-tx-lulac-save-complaint-draft-final\/\">now litigating against the lawyers<\/a> they replaced. At least four of those newly appointed lawyers participated in challenging the 2020 vote or have worked with people who helped Trump try to overturn the 2020 election.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s just a shocking and depressing reversal of the federal government\u2019s role in making real the promise of nondiscrimination in voting and racial equality,\u201d said Anna Baldwin, an appellate attorney for the Civil Rights Division who resigned last year and is now one of those litigating against the Justice Department in a new role at Campaign Legal Center.<\/p>\n<p>The Justice Department didn\u2019t respond to specific questions about the dismantling of the Public Integrity Section or the change in mission for the Civil Rights Division.<\/p>\n<p>In all, at least 75 career officials who\u2019d played important roles in elections work at DHS, DOJ and other departments have left or been fired, ProPublica found.<\/p>\n<h3>Team America<\/h3>\n<p>Late last summer, after the Trump administration had forced out most of the career specialists, a small group of political appointees began convening at the Department of Homeland Security\u2019s headquarters.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The group \u2014 which once called itself \u201cTeam America,\u201d according to sources familiar with the matter \u2014 looked for federal levers it could pull to make Trump\u2019s March executive order about elections a reality, an effort that has not been previously reported.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>They represented the new type of people running the show.<\/p>\n<p>Its core members included David Harvilicz, a DHS assistant secretary tasked with overseeing the security of election infrastructure, including voting machines, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dhs.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/2025-08\/25_0818_plcy_office-strategy-policy-and-plans-org-chart.pdf\">three of his top staffers<\/a>. As <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/david-harvilicz-homeland-security-voting-machines\">ProPublica has reported<\/a>, Harvilicz had co-founded an AI company with an architect of Trump\u2019s claims about Antrim County.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the setbacks the executive order had met with in court, there \u201cwas not a whole lot of discussion or disagreement\u201d about acting on the directive from Harvilicz or one of his deputies, said a former federal official who interacted with group members. \u201cIt was just us saluting to do it.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This small group was part of a wider team at DHS, DOJ and the White House seeking to push forward the president\u2019s agenda. Some of Trump\u2019s new guard are well known: After the 2020 election, Patel <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/opinion\/trump-revives-italygate-the-weirdest-2020-election-conspiracy-of-them-all\/\">pressured military officials<\/a> to help investigate a conspiracy theory about voting machines, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.govinfo.gov\/content\/pkg\/GPO-J6-TRANSCRIPT-CTRL0000034609\/pdf\/GPO-J6-TRANSCRIPT-CTRL0000034609.pdf\">a former Justice Department official<\/a>. (Patel did not respond to a request for comment but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.govinfo.gov\/content\/pkg\/GPO-J6-TRANSCRIPT-CTRL0000034609\/pdf\/GPO-J6-TRANSCRIPT-CTRL0000034609.pdf\">claimed in congressional testimony<\/a> that he did not recall the event.) Others, like Harvilicz, are more obscure but still wield consequential powers.<\/p>\n<p>These newcomers are seeking to carry out Trump\u2019s executive orders and are unlikely to push back against his false claims that American elections are rife with fraud.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Team America members have echoed or spread such material themselves.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Heather Honey, who serves under Harvilicz in a newly created position focused on elections, falsely asserted that there were more ballots cast in Pennsylvania than voters in the 2020 presidential election. Trump cited this claim, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.votebeat.org\/pennsylvania\/2024\/02\/12\/heather-honey-pennsylvania-election-integrity-eric\/\">which has been traced back to her<\/a>, while exhorting his followers to march on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>At least 11 administration appointees, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/heather-honey-dhs-election-security\">including Honey<\/a>, have ties to the Election Integrity Network, a conservative grassroots organization seeking to transform American elections. It is led by Cleta Mitchell, a lawyer who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2021\/01\/06\/953823383\/attorney-on-call-with-trump-and-georgia-officials-resigns-from-law-firm\">tried to help Trump<\/a> overturn the 2020 election. Gineen Bresso, who holds a top job in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Bresso-Gineen.pdf\">White House counsel\u2019s office<\/a>, coordinated with the network\u2019s leadership in 2024 as the Republican National Committee\u2019s election integrity chair, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/julie-adams-georgia-elections-fulton-county\">ProPublica has reported<\/a>. Since moving into government, Honey has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/election-denier-summit-trump-midterms\">maintained close ties<\/a> to Mitchell\u2019s organization, and she and at least two other federal officials have given its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/save-voter-citizenship-tool-mistakes-confusion\">members private briefings<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Experts say these former activists who helped forge a movement built on the idea that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump are seeking to make sure that does not happen again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe election denial movement is now interwoven within the federal government, and they are working together toward a shared goal of reshaping elections\u201d in ways that undermine the freedom to vote, said Brendan Fischer, a director at the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan, pro-democracy legal organization. \u201cIt\u2019s not just last-minute slapdash attempts to overturn the results\u201d as in 2020, \u201cbut more systematic efforts to influence how elections are run months ahead of time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In response to questions sent to DHS, Harvilicz and Honey, a DHS spokesperson disputed that they were seeking to use the department\u2019s powers to advantage Trump, writing that its employees \u201care focused on keeping our elections safe, secure, and free\u201d and working to \u201cimplement the President\u2019s policies.\u201d In response to questions about their ties to the election denial movement, the spokesperson wrote, \u201cTo meet the diverse and evolving challenges the Department faces, we hire experts with diverse backgrounds who go through a rigorous vetting process.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mitchell did not respond to detailed questions from ProPublica. The White House answered questions sent to Bresso about her connection to Mitchell\u2019s network by reiterating its commitment to making American elections secure.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Through the fall and winter, as the Justice Department demanded that states turn over confidential voter roll information, Team America worked to solve problems hindering the use of digital tools to comb the lists for noncitizens who had illegally registered to vote. Honey and others ironed out the technical details of merging information from different agencies and crafted data-sharing contracts. When Honey or others hit roadblocks, they\u2019d go to the White House or senior DHS leaders who \u201cwould come in hot\u201d to clear her path, said officials who interacted with them.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Initially, the plan was to run voter information obtained by DOJ through a Homeland Security tool called the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements system.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>More recently, according to two people familiar with the matter, Team America has worked to harness a more powerful tool used by another branch of DHS, Homeland Security Investigations, to increase its ability to search for noncitizen voters and bring criminal charges against them.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>While DHS told ProPublica that SAVE has identified more than 21,000 potential noncitizens on voter rolls in the past year, officials who have checked those results in detail have found vast inaccuracies, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/save-voter-citizenship-tool-mistakes-confusion\">as ProPublica has reported<\/a>. Most states \u2014 including those with millions of voters \u2014 have eventually marked only a few to a few hundred potential noncitizens as registered to vote, and far less have ever voted. The DHS spokesperson also called SAVE \u201csecure and reliable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As the election approaches, current and former officials and election security experts expressed concerns that Harvilicz and Honey, who\u2019ve <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/heather-honey-dhs-election-security\">espoused debunked conspiracy theories<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/david-harvilicz-homeland-security-voting-machines\">about elections<\/a>, are in positions to control the narrative around the vote\u2019s soundness.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s hard to debunk false claims \u201ccoming with the seal of the federal government,\u201d said Derek Tisler, counsel and manager with the Brennan Center for Justice\u2019s elections and government program. \u201cI certainly worry what damage that could do to voters\u2019 confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Red Flags<\/h3>\n<p>Perhaps nothing better reflects the breakdown of the guardrails that thwarted Trump\u2019s rashest impulses in 2020 than his creation last fall of a special White House post reinvestigating his loss to Biden.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In December 2020, just days after Barr rebuffed Trump\u2019s Antrim County claims, lawyers in the White House counsel\u2019s office helped prevent the president from heeding activists\u2019 call to essentially declare martial law to seize voting machines. This multihour shouting and cussing match has been called the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2021\/02\/02\/trump-oval-office-meeting-sidney-powell\">craziest meeting of the first Trump administration<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But the lawyer whom Trump hired in 2025 as his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/26927586-fulton-county-fbi-raid-search-warrant-affidavit\/\">director of election security and integrity<\/a>, Kurt Olsen, had worked to overturn Trump\u2019s loss in court in 2020 and was later <a href=\"https:\/\/www.azcourts.gov\/Portals\/0\/21\/ASC-CV230046%20-%205-4-2023%20-%20FILED%20-%20DECISION%20ORDER.pdf\">sanctioned by judges<\/a>, including for making <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailyjournal.com\/article\/387216-federal-appeals-court-split-on-attorney-sanctions-in-arizona-ballot-case\">baseless allegations<\/a> about Arizona elections.<\/p>\n<p>Olsen\u2019s work in the second Trump administration has breached the firewall between the White House and DOJ officials, established after Watergate to prevent law enforcement officers from making decisions based on political pressure, said Gary Restaino, a former U.S. attorney in Arizona.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is not a constitutional or even a statutory requirement,\u201d Restaino said, \u201cbut it\u2019s a democracy requirement to make sure that citizens throughout America understand that decisions about life and liberty are being made in an objective and consistent manner.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In a previously unreported series of events, around the end of 2025, Olsen flew to Georgia to meet with Paul Brown, the head of the FBI\u2019s Atlanta field office, according to people familiar with the matter.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Olsen wanted the FBI to seize 2020 ballots from Fulton County, a Democratic stronghold, and gave Brown a report he claimed would justify the extraordinary action. Brown and his team emphasized to Olsen that any investigation his team did would be independent and fair.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>When Brown and his team examined the report, they found that Georgia\u2019s election board had already looked into its allegations, <a href=\"https:\/\/embed.documentcloud.org\/documents\/23875958-signed_consent-order-seb-2021-181-and-2022-025-fulton-county-with-exhibit-a_redacted\/?embed=1\">dismissing many altogether<\/a>, and concluding that others came down to human error, not criminal wrongdoing. The report had been assembled by a longtime ally of Olsen\u2019s and participant in the Election Integrity Network who had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/kevin-moncla-election-researcher-fulton-county-georgia\">a history of discredited claims<\/a>, ProPublica has reported.<\/p>\n<p>Based on their own investigation, Brown\u2019s team submitted an affidavit to their superiors at DOJ that did not make a strong enough case to move forward with what Olsen wanted.<\/p>\n<p>Soon after, Brown was offered a choice: retire or be moved to a new office, people with knowledge of the exchange told ProPublica.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Olsen did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n<p>An FBI spokesperson said that Brown \u201celected to retire\u201d and that its \u201cwork in the election security space is entirely consistent with the law.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Brown\u2019s ouster after refusing to carry out the seizure of 2020 election materials <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ms.now\/news\/atlanta-fbi-boss-ousted-after-balking-at-2020-election-probe\">has been reported<\/a>, but Olsen\u2019s involvement and the details of their interactions leading to Brown\u2019s retirement have not been previously disclosed.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>With Brown gone, the case moved ahead under his replacement.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Trump administration officials also took another step to keep control of the investigation.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Then-Attorney General Pam Bondi chose <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bloomberglaw.com\/us-law-week\/bondi-hands-st-louis-prosecutor-nationwide-election-fraud-remit\">Thomas Albus<\/a>, whom Trump had appointed as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri, to prosecute the case even though it fell far outside his usual regional jurisdiction. Albus had been meeting with Olsen since around the time the White House lawyer was hired, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/thomas-albus-fulton-county-georgia-election-records\">ProPublica has reported<\/a>. (Albus declined a request for comment.)<\/p>\n<p>In late January, the FBI carried out an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/fbi-fulton-county-voting-records-search-warrant\">unprecedented raid<\/a> in Fulton County \u2014 and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/26927586-fulton-county-fbi-raid-search-warrant-affidavit\/?q=Oversight&amp;mode=document#document\/p16\">the agency\u2019s affidavit<\/a>, put together by Albus and Brown\u2019s replacement, cited a version of the report Olsen gave to Brown as evidence supporting the seizure. ProPublica was part of a news coalition that sued to unseal the affidavit.<\/p>\n<p>An FBI spokesperson said that its agents \u201cfollowed all procedure to ensure everything was in proper order, and FBI evidence team had the necessary court-authorized search warrant before they arrived on site.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Ryan Crosswell, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/national-security\/2025\/03\/05\/ryan-crosswell-resignation-text-justice-public-integrity\/\">who worked<\/a> in the Justice Department\u2019s Public Integrity Section for around half a decade, handling a number of election cases, called Brown\u2019s replacement and Albus\u2019 involvement a \u201cred flag\u201d because of the unusual circumstances of their appointments.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re just moving through people until they find someone who\u2019s willing to do exactly what they want,\u201d Crosswell said.<\/p>\n<p>The Justice Department did not respond to a question about Crosswell\u2019s comment.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The extraordinary raid was also enabled in a previously unreported way by the destruction of the DOJ\u2019s Public Integrity Section.<\/p>\n<p>Multiple former lawyers for the section said they likely would have tried to block the Fulton County investigation because it lacked strong evidence, had a clear political slant and went against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/jm\/jm-9-85000-protection-government-integrity\">department directives<\/a> that actions should not be taken \u201cfor the purpose of giving an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate or political party.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Crosswell said, \u201cBased on everything we know, if PIN was still there, we\u2019d say no.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>John Keller was principal deputy chief of the Public Integrity Section from 2020 to 2025 and was acting chief when he resigned in early 2025. He worries that allegations of irregularities in the upcoming election will be handled on a partisan basis. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWithout that review and without apolitical, objective, honest brokers involved in the process, there is a much greater risk for intentional manipulation or inadvertent interference,\u201d Keller said.<\/p>\n<h3>\u201cDismantling the Brain\u201d<\/h3>\n<p>The week the FBI seized Fulton County\u2019s ballots, about half of the nation\u2019s secretaries of state converged on Washington, D.C., for their winter conference.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>They had urgent questions about elections for Bondi, then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and other luminaries who had promised to appear at the event. But none of the headline names showed, leaving conference attendees staring at an empty podium, until the session was abruptly canceled.<\/p>\n<p>The breakdown was emblematic of a widening chasm between state officials and the parts of the federal government that had, until recently, worked with them to secure American elections.<\/p>\n<p>Shenna Bellows, Maine\u2019s Democratic secretary of state, said in an interview that the trust between the Trump administration and states is \u201cabsolutely demolished.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This loss of trust reflects that election deniers have assumed so many top roles at federal agencies. Honey sometimes represents DHS on cross-departmental conference calls with state election chiefs, an unsettling reality for those who spent years countering the false claims she made from outside the government.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>On a February call, state officials expressed confusion about whether the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency would still assess their election systems for physical and cyber vulnerabilities. Honey said it would, but Bellows said she\u2019d been told it wouldn\u2019t.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Two DHS officials told ProPublica CISA\u2019s remaining staff avoids election work, afraid they could lose their jobs if they engage with state and local officials. \u201cIn CISA, elections are a toxic poison,\u201d one said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>A DHS spokesperson said state and federal officials are still working together \u201cevery single day\u201d to protect elections and that \u201cThe claim that DHS has a broken partnership with states and made our elections less secure is simply false.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The cuts to career election specialists and their divisions have eliminated information channels that spotlighted threats as voting took place, including Election Day command posts run by the Justice Department and FBI. Another information channel, which DHS used to fund, will still operate but will be available only to state and local election offices, not the federal government.<\/p>\n<p>Jessica Cadigan, a former FBI intelligence analyst who investigated Election Day threats, said FBI headquarters\u2019 command post was critical to her cases.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is dismantling the brain, if you will,\u201d she said. \u201cThey are the ones that piece the whole thing together.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>An FBI spokesperson said the agency will still have capabilities to monitor the situation on the ground through designated election crimes coordinator experts in all its field offices.<\/p>\n<p>Jena Griswold, Colorado\u2019s Democratic secretary of state, has come to see the federal government as adversarial to elections and election administration, rather than a partner.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Colorado is one of around 30 states the Justice Department has sued for confidential voter roll information. At least four courts that have fully considered those cases so far have dismissed them, although the Justice Department has appealed most of the decisions. (The others are pending.) Griswold told ProPublica she has added another lawyer to her staff to fight whatever comes next from the Trump administration.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDonald Trump,\u201d she said, \u201chas made American elections less safe.\u201d<\/p>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/trump-midterm-elections-takeover\" \/>\n<meta name=\"syndication-source\" content=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/trump-midterm-elections-takeover\" \/><br \/>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/pixel.propublica.org\/pixel.js\" async><\/script><br \/>\n<\/textarea>\t<\/label><\/p>\n<p>\t<button type=\"button\" class=\"wp-block-propublica-republish-link__copy-button\">Copy HTML<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/footer>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/main><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Animation by Matt Rota and Henrike Lendowski Animation by Matt Rota and Henrike Lendowski Inside Trump\u2019s Effort to \u201cTake Over\u201d the Midterm Elections by Doug Bock Clark and Jen Fifield April 13, 2026, 5:00 am Listen 31:52 Contrast Change Appearance AutoLightDark ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. 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