The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) plans to station agents throughout Maricopa County polling stations to ensure “[Trump voters don’t] get out of line,” according to a whistleblower who allegedly sat in on an undisclosed security briefing on the matter.
Acting on the whistleblower’s report, GOP lawmaker Alexander Kolodin sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray asking about the matter on Thursday.
Today I informed FBI Director Wray that the House is prepared act if his agents attempt to intimidate or censor voters while deployed to Arizona. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/VrN4LkZk9b
— Rep. Alexander Kolodin (@realAlexKolodin) October 3, 2024
Kolodin advised that the Arizona House of Representatives would take action to secure Arizonans’ right to vote.
The lawmaker also advised that the Arizona District Court enjoined the enforcement of a regulation concocted by Secretary of State Adrian Fontes in the latest Election Procedures Manual enabling the removal and effective disenfranchisement of voters perceived to be criticizing election workers or administration.
Kolodin noted that any voter intimidation by federal agents could result in a contest over the election results.
“As you know, your agents are prohibited from ‘go[ing] in disguise’ on ‘the premises of another … for the purpose of preventing or hindering the constituted authorities of any State or Territory from giving or securing to all persons within such State or Territory the equal protection of the laws[.]’ They are likewise prohibited from ‘conspire[ing] to prevent by force, intimidation, or threat, any citizen who is lawfully entitled to vote, from giving his support or advocacy in a legal manner, toward or in favor of the election of any lawfully qualified person as an elector for President or Vice President[.]’ Further, presidential elections are administered pursuant to state, not federal, law. You should therefore be aware that, under Arizona law, voter intimidation by your agents while guests in our state may complicate certification of the results of the 2024 general election.”
Kolodin encouraged Arizonans who believe their civil rights were violated to file a complaint with the U.S. attorney’s office and issue a copy to his office.
The FBI submitted the following statement in response to Kolodin’s letter:
“The allegations stated in the letter are categorically false. Federal law prohibits the presence of armed federal personnel at polling places, absent exigent life-threatening emergencies,” stated the agency.
Nowhere did Kolodin’s letter mention the FBI agents being armed when stationed in the polling places. The FBI statement also made no mention of the leading claim in Kolodin’s letter: that the primary purpose of the FBI agents’ deployment will be to monitor the behavior and actions of Trump voters.
This wouldn’t be the first time that the Justice Department sent investigators to monitor Arizona elections this year or in years prior.
The Justice Department announced on July 29 that it was monitoring compliance with federal voting rights laws in Arizona during the July 30 primary election.
The agency regularly deploys staff to ensure federal civil rights compliance in elections throughout the country, as well as federal observers from the Office of Personnel Management when authorized by a federal court order.
