Trump Action Archive

Supporting reports

• Trump administration charges 40 people for voter fraud nationwide — The Trump administration has charged approximately 40 people across the United States for voter fraud in recent weeks, with approximately 170 people charged for illegal voting since the start of Trump's second term. These charges occur amid a broader administration effort to create the impression that voter fraud is rampant, despite multiple studies showing it is exceedingly rare. The charges are being pursued ahead of midterm elections, representing a significant departure from historical DOJ practice of avoiding politically sensitive enforcement actions during campaign season.

Supporting reports

• DOJ sues California over alleged noncitizen voters — The Department of Justice sued the state of California, alleging that 20,000 noncitizens remain on the state's voter rolls and demanding the state be blocked from tabulating certain ballots the DOJ claimed might belong to noncitizens. California state officials rejected the federal claims, stating the DOJ had wrongly flagged U.S. citizens and people whose voter registrations had already been cancelled as potential ineligible voters. The 20,000 alleged noncitizens represent a tiny fraction of California's 23 million registered voters.

Supporting reports

• DOJ abandons 60-day pre-election neutrality rule and conducts politically sensitive enforcement actions — For decades, the Department of Justice has followed an unwritten rule to avoid activities that could influence elections during the 60 days preceding election day. In 2026, this rule has been abandoned. Recent DOJ actions include suing California for refusing to investigate voters' citizenship, federal agents raiding the home of Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and Attorney General Todd Blanche campaigning for Republican candidates. These actions occurred within the pre-election window.

Supporting reports

• James Talarico campaign spokesman responded to disinformation attack — JT Ennis, spokesman for the Talarico campaign, stated: "The most powerful people in the world know they can't beat James Talarico with the truth, so they're slandering him with AI deepfakes, foreign bots and conspiracy theories to protect their broken, corrupt political system." The statement characterized the disinformation campaign as a coordinated attack by powerful actors.

Supporting reports

• DHS arrests Omar Muñoz in high-profile operation for alleged unlawful voter registration — Department of Homeland Security agents arrested Omar Muñoz, a 72-year-old lawful permanent resident, at his Commerce, California home in an early morning operation on October 21, 2026. Muñoz was one of 28 green card holders charged in California with allegedly registering to vote unlawfully. The arrest was conducted with significant law enforcement presence, including a helicopter, and was subsequently publicized by the Department of Justice in a promotional video. Muñoz, who is frail from recent surgeries, was handcuffed and shackled despite his physical condition. The operation occurred two weeks before midterm elections.

Supporting reports

• Justice Department deploys 1,000 federal election monitors nationwide — On October 21, the Justice Department announced plans to deploy approximately 1,000 federal election monitors across the country for the midterm elections, roughly triple the number deployed during the previous midterm cycle.

Supporting reports

• Justice Department charges 28 permanent residents with voting violations — On October 19, the Justice Department charged 28 lawful permanent residents in California with alleged voting-related offenses, including registering or voting without U.S. citizenship. Eleven had been arrested on Monday. The charges remain unproven in court. The government has claimed approximately 20,000 California voters could be noncitizens, though these charges do not establish the accuracy of that claim.
• Justice Department Charges 28 Foreign Nationals in California for Election Crimes — The Department of Justice announced this on 2026-10-19 through Office of the Attorney General. The recorded stage is an arrest. The allegations are unadjudicated; this documents the announcement, not the truth of any allegation. The department's own account of it reads: "Federal law enforcement throughout California today arrested 11 foreign nationals living in the United States who are among 28 total charged in criminal complaints with federal crimes, including that they fraudulently registered to vote in U.S. elections, electoral contests in which most of them cast illegal and fraudulently obtained ballots."

Supporting reports

• Republican Super PAC airs anti-trans attack ad against South Carolina Democratic Senate candidate — A Super PAC supporting Republican Darline Graham aired an attack ad against Democratic Senate candidate Dr. Annie Andrews in South Carolina, claiming she "is for they/them" and framing transgender people as predatory toward children. The ad targeted Andrews' support for trans rights. Andrews responded with a direct-to-camera statement in a lab coat opposing "biological men playing in women's sports" and denying she has performed gender surgery on minors, attempting to distance herself from the Republican framing while maintaining some support for trans people.

Supporting reports

• HSI considered undercover operations against voter registration groups — According to internal documents, Homeland Security Investigations considered deploying undercover agents to investigate voter registration organizations, with Pennsylvania and New Jersey as priority targets. The stated goal was for undercover agents to engage with organizations to "substantiate recruitment methods and activities related to illegal alien voter registration," gather evidence, disrupt activities, trace financial backing, and ultimately "initiate prosecutions and dismantle illicit facilitation networks." It remains unclear whether undercover operations were actually conducted.
• HSI investigated over 150 voter registration organizations — Homeland Security Investigations conducted investigations into over 150 organizations suspected of facilitating unlawful noncitizen voter registration. For the vast majority, HSI found no derogatory information. Twenty-six organizations remain under review, and two were flagged for further investigation in Pennsylvania: the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and Zumiez, a skateboard and clothing retailer. HSI also investigated Black Fork Strategies, a progressive Ohio voter engagement firm, in coordination with the FBI.
• DHS documents reveal election denier Heather Honey's role in noncitizen voting investigation — Internal Department of Homeland Security documents obtained by Popular Information reveal that election denier Heather Honey is playing a prominent role in DHS efforts to find evidence of noncitizen voting ahead of midterm elections. The documents detail DHS investigations into nonprofit voter registration organizations and outline plans for potential undercover operations targeting these groups. The revelation raises questions about whether election-fraud investigations are being driven by ideological commitments rather than evidence of actual violations.

Supporting reports

• ICE collected tens of millions of voter records for deportation targeting — Immigration and Customs Enforcement, under direction of Deputy Assistant Secretary Heather Honey, collected approximately 48.4 million voter records through undisclosed "independent sources" and obtained an additional 50.6 million records from the Department of Justice. Records from ten states—Texas, Pennsylvania, California, New Jersey, Minnesota, Michigan, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, and Ohio—were prioritized. The data was sent to HSI's Innovation Lab and is pending entry into Palantir's ELITE system, used to identify and locate people for deportation. This effort targets noncitizen voters, though noncitizen voting is extremely rare.

Supporting reports

• Supreme Court paused lower court order on SAVE citizenship database — The Supreme Court, over the dissent of its three liberal justices, paused a lower court order and allowed the administration to resume using its overhauled SAVE database while litigation continues. The SAVE system links Social Security data with state voter rolls for citizenship verification. A federal judge had found in June that the overhaul violated the Privacy Act and other federal laws. When Texas ran all 18 million of its voters through SAVE, the system flagged 2,724 people; nearly 20 percent were confirmed as citizens and reinstated. Federal law prohibits systematic voter purges within 90 days of federal elections. The Court's majority acknowledged this limit but stated citizenship checks remain permissible in that window and each state decides whether to use SAVE.
• U.S. Supreme Court rules Trump administration may resume voter suppression database for voter removal — The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Friday that the Trump administration can resume using its voter suppression database to help Republicans remove voters from the rolls. The decision permits the federal government to conduct individualized voter inquiries using the modified SAVE program during the 90-day quiet period before Election Day, though the Court acknowledged this "limits the potential impact" of the ruling. The Court has scheduled a separate case, Republican National Committee v. Mi Familia Vota, for December argument to consider the scope of the quiet period and whether states may conduct systematic noncitizen removal during that window.

Supporting reports

• Complaint filed: DSCC v. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (D.D.C. 1:26-cv-03330) — The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic Governors Association, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries filed a federal complaint against the Department of Homeland Security, ICE, and the FBI, alleging they have adopted a policy to station armed officers at polling places during the 2026 general election. Plaintiffs claim the policy violates 18 U.S.C. § 592 and Section 11(b) of the Voting Rights Act, chills voting particularly among naturalized citizens, and forces Democratic organizations to divert resources to voter protection. They seek declaratory and injunctive relief barring armed officers from polling places, drop boxes, and curbside voting locations.

Supporting reports

• Complaint filed: NAACP v. Department of Homeland Security et al. (D.D.C. 1:26-cv-03263) — Nine civil rights organizations and labor unions, including the NAACP, Mi Familia en Acción, OCA–Asian Pacific American Advocates, National Urban League, and MN8, filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the Department of Homeland Security, ICE, DOJ, the FBI, and associated officials. The complaint alleges that the Trump administration's rescission of a DHS policy limiting immigration arrests near polling places, combined with rhetoric declining to rule out deploying armed agents near voting locations during the 2026 midterms and expansion of the "Unlawful Voter Initiative" (cross-referencing voter rolls against immigration databases in at least nine states), violates Section 11(b) of the Voting Rights Act by intimidating voters and persons aiding voters. Plaintiffs seek a declaration of violation and an injunction against unlawful voter intimidation.

Supporting reports

• North Carolina Chief Justice election decided by 401 votes; fair maps overturned — A Republican Chief Justice won election in North Carolina by 401 votes out of 5.4 million cast. The Chief Justice was responsible for overturning fair electoral maps that had been in place in 2022. Approximately 154,000 voters skipped the judicial race entirely. The narrow margin and high rate of ballot-skipping in the race is cited as evidence that voter mobilization and ballot completion could have altered the outcome and prevented the maps' reversal.

Supporting reports

• LULAC, Common Cause, UnidosUS, and Denver file federal lawsuit challenging armed ICE enforcement at polling places — LULAC, Common Cause, UnidosUS, and the City and County of Denver filed a federal lawsuit in Washington, D.C., on Thursday challenging a Trump administration policy permitting armed ICE officers to enter polling places to conduct immigration enforcement. The lawsuit was prompted by comments from Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin stating that ICE officers could enter polling locations to serve warrants or conduct immigration and customs enforcement. Plaintiffs cited an 1865 federal law generally prohibiting armed federal personnel at election sites except to repel armed enemies, and argued that armed immigration enforcement could intimidate voters and interfere with local election administration.

Supporting reports

• Nobel Prize scientist warns DOGE actions resemble election corruption scheme — Nobel Prize-winning scientist Geoffrey Hinton, known as "the godfather of AI," commented in the Musk documentary that "It's fairly clear to me that Trump is hell-bent on corrupting the midterm elections." Hinton stated that if one wanted to corrupt midterm elections using AI, "all you needed to do was get detailed information on U.S. citizens. And what DOGE did looked like just what you would do."

Supporting reports

• Trump administration deadline for State Citizenship Lists — Today, September 4, 2026, is the deadline Trump set in his March 31 election executive order for DHS, working with USCIS and the Social Security Administration, to compile State Citizenship Lists from federal citizenship, naturalization, Social Security, SAVE, and other government records and transmit updated versions to state election officials at least 60 days before the November 3 midterm elections.

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• Steve Bannon announced plan to deploy ICE agents to surround polling places — On his podcast, Steve Bannon stated that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents would "surround the polls come November" to prevent what he characterized as election theft, declaring "we will never again allow an election to be stolen." This public announcement of armed federal presence at polling locations preceded similar statements by administration officials and represented a coordinated messaging effort to normalize federal law enforcement at voting sites.

Supporting reports

• Trump administration attempted to use USPS to control ballot delivery — The Trump administration attempted to use the United States Postal Service as a gatekeeper to prevent delivery of ballots that the federal government deemed should not be delivered, despite state agency determinations. Courts blocked this effort, but a whistleblower revealed that despite court orders, the administration implemented a system that would discard entire batches of up to 10,000 ballots if a single ballot in the batch was rejected. This targets mail voting, which Democrats use at higher rates than Republicans.

Supporting reports

• DHS identifies over 250,000 potential noncitizens on voter rolls; state officials question accuracy — DHS reported identifying more than 250,000 potential noncitizens on voter rolls in California, Nevada, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. State election officials questioned the numbers and how they were produced. In Nevada, DHS initially suggested nearly 16,000 noncitizens could be registered; after further review, federal officials told Nevada they had confirmed only 185 people as noncitizens, while more than 14,000 cases still required additional review.

Supporting reports

• Homeland Security Investigations launches coordinated voter fraud initiative — Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) began a coordinated voter fraud investigation across nine states, directing agents to investigate leads, conduct interviews, and develop cases for federal prosecutors. USCIS investigators are also assisting with election-related work, pulling the federal immigration system into election enforcement less than two months before the midterm elections.
• HSI launches nine-state voter-fraud investigation surge — Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the investigative arm of ICE, has launched a voter-fraud investigation surge across nine states. The operation is set to start approximately two months before Election Day (November 3, 2026) and is planned to continue into the period when early and mail voting will be underway. Investigators have been instructed to follow leads and help move cases to federal prosecutors. The operation is scheduled to wind down in mid-October.

Supporting reports

• USCIS officers reassigned from immigration fraud to voter-data review — The Washington Post reported that hundreds of USCIS officers normally investigating fraud and security concerns in immigration applications have been reassigned to review voter data for noncitizens. DHS did not confirm the specific number, but a USCIS spokesperson confirmed the voter-data operation is underway. This reassignment diverts immigration personnel from their standard duties to support federal election enforcement efforts.

Supporting reports

• Homeland Security Secretary says ICE agents could be deployed to polling places — Markwayne Mullin, US homeland security secretary, stated on Tuesday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers could be deployed to polling sites if there is a threat or an active warrant being served. Democrats and voting rights groups have warned for months that the Trump administration might attempt to deploy federal agents to polling locations to intimidate voters ahead of November midterm elections. Federal law prohibits armed agents from being at election sites. The DHS later clarified ICE is not planning operations targeting polling locations but may arrest individuals as part of targeted enforcement.
• Homeland Security Secretary Mullin declined to rule out ICE presence at polling places — Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told reporters on September 2, 2026, that he is not ruling out sending ICE agents to polling places, stating they would be present only if there is a threat or to serve a warrant. However, federal law explicitly prohibits armed agents from being present at polling locations during elections, making Mullin's statement a threat to violate federal law and suppress voting.

Supporting reports

• DHS redirects immigration officers to examine voter registration data for noncitizens — The Department of Homeland Security redirected hundreds of USCIS fraud and national security officers from immigration case work to examine voter information for possible noncitizen registrations. DHS claimed that nearly 250,000 noncitizens may be registered across four states, but the agency has not publicly substantiated the figure. State election officials examining the data have questioned its reliability. Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt, a Republican, reported that federal officials acknowledged they lacked high confidence that thousands of Pennsylvania names DHS identified actually represented improperly registered noncitizens.

Supporting reports

• USPS whistleblower reports flawed ballot mail system designed to disrupt mail-in voting — Senator Richard Blumenthal released a whistleblower complaint alleging that the U.S. Postal Service has developed a new, untested IT system for handling federal election ballot mail that is "secretive, rushed, chaotic, and fundamentally flawed." The whistleblower warns that a single barcode scanning failure in a batch of 10,000 ballots will reject the entire batch, potentially preventing millions of voters from receiving mail-in ballots. The system was developed despite a federal court injunction ordering work to stop. The whistleblower questions whether "catastrophic failure would be a feature rather than a bug."
• Federal whistleblower disclosed flaws in USPS mail-voting verification system — An anonymous federal worker filed a whistleblower disclosure with Senator Blumenthal warning that the U.S. Postal Service's new system to regulate mail voting for the midterms has been "rushed, chaotic, and fundamentally flawed." The USPS issued the rule last week, and it is currently blocked by federal court. The whistleblower alleges workers were forced to create the system in weeks when it should have taken 9 months, and that work continued on implementation even after being ordered to stop. The disclosure warns the Trump administration "has hidden the high likelihood that the new ballot mail verification processes will result in major disruptions in mail ballots ever getting delivered to voters." Specific concerns include rejection of entire batches of thousands of ballots when a problem with one voter is found, and no planning for inevitable errors. The whistleblower called one portion of internal software "garbage."
• USPS whistleblower reports catastrophic flaws in new ballot-handling system — A whistleblower disclosed to Congress that the new USPS system for handling federal election ballot mail contains "potentially catastrophic problems." The system rejects entire batches of ballots if even a single barcode fails to scan during verification, preventing thousands of ballots from reaching voters. The disclosure was made public on September 2, four days before Massachusetts began sending mail-in ballots.
• Senator Blumenthal demands USPS Postmaster General cease ballot mail project and provide records — Senator Richard Blumenthal, top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, issued formal demands to Postmaster General David Steiner to abandon the ballot mail IT project, cease work ordered halted by federal court, and provide by September 8 all records related to the project, including names and dates of personnel involved. Blumenthal characterized the system as designed to "disenfranchise millions of Americans," noting that one-third of all Americans cast ballots by mail.