The FBI’s raid on free and fair elections

This piece was originally published for Democracy Docket members only. We’re sharing it more widely because it felt too timely to keep behind the paywall. Become a member to get Marc’s exclusive notes first.

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On Thursday, more than 100 FBI agents executed a massive law enforcement effort involving simultaneous search warrants, door knocks, and surprise interrogations. The target was not a violent gang, a financial fraudster, or a suspected corporate criminal.

Instead, the Department of Justice was targeting the Ohio Organizing Collaborative. The OOC describes itself as bringing “transformative relational power with everyday Ohioans for statewide social, racial and economic justice” and serves as a critical hub for many different nonpartisan groups.

But its real offense was running successful voter registration programs aimed at racial minorities, the formerly incarcerated, and college students — precisely the type of American citizens who are entitled to vote that Republicans want to disenfranchise. The OOC has also played a critical role in fighting for fair redistricting in Ohio, giving the Trump administration even more reason to target the organization.

The first wave of Donald Trump’s weaponization of the criminal justice system was aimed at high-profile political enemies. The indictment of James Comey, for example, drew widespread publicity and outrage. Many of us who strongly objected to Comey’s time as FBI director were suddenly thrust into the role of defending him from baseless criminal prosecution.

The same was true when the DOJ targeted Letitia James and tried to investigate Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell. More recently, reports that former January 6th Committee witness Cassidy Hutchinson and former CIA Director John Brennan are under criminal investigation have sparked outrage.

Stunned disbelief was the main emotion when it was revealed that Trump’s DOJ had tried to indict six Democratic members of the House and Senate for their statements in a video reminding military and intelligence personnel of their obligation to refuse unlawful orders. A Washington, D.C., grand jury rejected the proposed indictments.

Like these other high-profile targets, when I was the subject of Trump’s attacks, I had the tools to fight back. Allies issued press statements of support, and the media gave me airtime to respond. Scott Pelley did an entire “60 Minutes” episode on Trump’s targeting of lawyers that featured me prominently.

What we are witnessing now, however, is a second and more insidious track of that same weaponization — one aimed not at famous individuals who can fight back, but at the unglamorous, under-the-radar groups doing the daily work of democracy.

Raiding the OOC months before the midterm elections may not be as sensational as indicting a former FBI director for posting a picture of seashells, but it is every bit as great a threat to the rule of law. The FBI’s actions in Ohio may not appear as important as the harassment of the Federal Reserve Board Chair with baseless subpoenas, but their impact on democracy is likely to be far greater.

Ohio may no longer be a swing state in presidential elections, but in 2026, it features critical U.S. Senate, congressional and gubernatorial races. Democrat Sherrod Brown is a slight favorite to flip a critical Senate seat, while the governor’s race is a toss-up. Meanwhile, several Democratic members of Congress appear likely to defy the Republicans’ latest gerrymander and win reelection.

All those races — like those around the country — rely on there being free and fair elections.

Donald Trump knows that his best chance of maintaining unchallenged power is a Republican-controlled Congress. He has made no secret of the importance of the midterm elections to him, and he has said loud and clear that he will do anything necessary to rig the rules and guarantee the outcome.

Lying about elections is one tactic. Targeting high-profile political opponents is another. But going after the groups doing the work of democracy — registering voters, standing up in court, and helping individuals support candidates — is in many ways even more pernicious.

Trump is counting on us to ignore the raids of groups like the OOC. He wants the public to assume that a group registering disadvantaged communities to vote is probably doing something wrong. He knows that without a single, high-profile individual at its center, it is difficult for much of the media to give this situation the attention it requires.

We cannot let this cynical tactic prevail. Voter fraud is vanishingly rare in this country. Republicans are clinging to lies in order to shift public opinion and create a permission structure to contest the outcomes of elections they lose in 2026.

That is why they have alleged wrongdoing in California without any evidence, and it is why they are loudly investigating the OOC in Ohio.

Those of us in the pro-democracy movement cannot let this succeed. We need to be as loud and full-throated in our defense of groups like the OOC as we are in speaking out against the prosecutions of high-profile figures. The OOC deserves it. The rule of law requires it. Free and fair elections demand it.

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