Kash Patel suggests FBI agents may be at polls

FBI Director Kash Patel suggested at a Senate hearing Tuesday that federal agents may be present at the polls in November.

It’s the latest comment from a top Trump administration official that appears designed to spread fear and uncertainty over the potential role of law enforcement at voting sites this fall.

Patel was asked by U.S. Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) about comments made by Michigan gubernatorial candidate John James, who said Patel has told him the FBI would “have a presence” across the state leading up to Election Day.

“We have an election crimes community coordinator at all 56 offices,” Patel said. “So you bet we’re gonna have them there … for election interference matters.”

“I thought you weren’t going to be sending people to the polls,” Welch responded, referring to comments the FBI director made to U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) earlier on Tuesday.

“When did you hear that?” Patel asked. “It’s just another lie.” 

“So you are sending agents to the polls?” Welch persisted. 

“We have election crisis coordinators manned at all 56 field offices,” Patel said. “Election integrity is of paramount importance and this FBI is not going to shy away from that effort.”

FBI Election Crimes Coordinators are special agents who can respond to threats reported by local and state election officials. 

While there are agents assigned to all field offices across the country, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission does not indicate these agents typically act as a consistent presence at poll sites. Rather, they are called in on-site for special circumstances when issues related to election crimes arise.

In the earlier exchange with Blumenthal, the senator had asked Patel if he agreed that deploying FBI agents to the polls on Election Day would be illegal.

“I don’t know that we can’t legally do it,” Patel responded. “I’m telling you we’re going to house our agents and intel analysts in our field offices for election security.”

Patel also told Blumenthal it’s up to the Department of Homeland Security, and not the FBI, to take the lead on monitoring elections. 

Federal law prohibits armed federal officers at election sites, except to “repel armed enemies of the United States.” Federal law also bars voter intimidation, and some state laws limit law enforcement presence at polls altogether.

Border czar Tom Homan said Sunday he does not plan to use Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to “sweep polling locations,” despite past remarks suggesting he could. 

Blumenthal also pressed Patel on the FBI subpoenas sent to the office of the Nevada Secretary of State, demanding personal voter information.

Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar (D) has been a fierce critic of the Trump administration’s intimidation threats. He told Democracy Docket Tuesday that illegal FBI presence at the polls would be “a very bad decision to make as an executive leader.”

“And the utilization of taxpayer resources… They are criminals, and there are illegal activities that are taking place by foreign adversaries and others that he needs to focus on rather than focusing on innocent voters,” Aguilar said.

Jim Saksa contributed to this reporting.