Trump Action Archive

Supporting reports

• DOJ seeks criminal charges against Cassidy Hutchinson for alleged perjury before Congress — The Department of Justice's civil rights division is pursuing criminal charges against Cassidy Hutchinson, a former Trump White House aide who provided testimony to the House committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attack. Hutchinson testified that Trump attempted to commandeer his SUV to join supporters at the Capitol. The charges involve allegations of lying to Congress. The move is described as highly unusual, as such investigations are typically handled by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.
• DOJ seeks federal criminal indictment of Cassidy Hutchinson for perjury — The Department of Justice is pursuing a federal criminal indictment against former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson on charges of lying to Congress during her January 6 testimony. The DOJ's Civil Rights Division presented evidence to a federal grand jury on Tuesday and is expected to present additional evidence and witnesses later in October.

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

• Senators Sanders and Merkley and Representative Ocasio-Cortez introduce Ban Flock Act — Senators Bernie Sanders and Jeff Merkley, along with Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, introduced the Ban Flock Act on Friday. If passed, the legislation will prevent federal agencies from using automated license-plate readers. State and local governments that continue using the technology could lose federal grant funding. The bill would also allow individuals to sue the federal government over violations. The legislation responds to documented cases of officers misusing license-plate databases, including searches involving former romantic partners.

Supporting reports

• DHS whistleblower alleges voter impersonation by federal agents — A Department of Homeland Security whistleblower alleged that DHS, as part of its "Unlawful Voter Initiative," directed federal agents to impersonate voters in violation of state laws, using Social Security numbers and other information to look up voter history on state websites. The allegation prompted US Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff to request an investigation by California's attorney general, citing concerns about how DHS obtained and used voter data and whether it complied with law.

Supporting reports

• ICE detains exiled Nicaraguan journalist Luis Galeano in Florida — Luis Galeano, a veteran Nicaraguan journalist who fled his country in 2018 after police raids and arrest warrants, was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) while driving for Lyft in Florida on Monday. Galeano has had a pending asylum application for approximately seven years, holds a work permit and social security number, and continues reporting critically on Nicaragua's Sandinista government online. As of Wednesday, he was held at Krome detention center in Miami with an immigration court date scheduled for October 2. His detention has drawn criticism from press freedom organizations and some US lawmakers, who note the contradiction of detaining a journalist persecuted by an authoritarian regime the US government simultaneously condemns.

Supporting reports

• Federal judge blocks DHS from issuing warning notices threatening prosecution for ICE criticism — Judge Rudolph Contreras of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the Department of Homeland Security may not issue "warning notices" threatening prosecution against citizens for criticizing Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The ruling arose after David Streever, a New York resident, received such a notice in June 2026 following a January email to then-ICE Director Todd Lyons in which Streever called Lyons a "monstrous human being" and warned his conscience would "eat himself alive." Federal agents delivered the notice to Streever's home and later to a hotel where he was staying with his daughter. The court found the notice violated Streever's First Amendment rights.

Supporting reports

• DHS created thousands of potentially unreliable Tecs records on voters based on unverified data — A whistleblower disclosed that the Department of Homeland Security created thousands of records in the Tecs law enforcement database against California residents based on data officers had reason to believe was unreliable or inaccurate. In some cases, DHS provided officers with names and voting dates that did not match state voter registration records. Officers were instructed to create files despite these contradictions and without access to corroborating information, potentially resulting in tens of thousands of erroneous records affecting residents' legal status.

Supporting reports

• DHS officers instructed to conduct potentially illegal voter database searches without personal liability protection — Department of Homeland Security lawyers told officers investigating voter fraud they would not face personal liability for violating state laws when accessing voter registration databases, according to a whistleblower disclosure. Officers were instructed to search state voter databases and create federal records on suspected non-citizen voters despite concerns about data reliability and the legality of misrepresenting themselves on state websites. The effort, part of the Trump administration's ramped-up investigation into non-citizen voting ahead of midterm elections, has produced only a handful of cases despite non-citizen voting being extremely rare.

Supporting reports

• DOGE accessed and shared sensitive Social Security Administration data — A documentary about Elon Musk by filmmaker Alex Gibney reports that under Musk, DOGE had access to federal IT systems. A whistleblower warned that members of DOGE accessed and shared sensitive data from the Social Security Administration, representing a breach of federal data security and privacy protections.

Supporting reports

• DOJ wiretapped Democratic congressman's phone calls — House Representative Suhas Subramanyam (D-Va.) stated on September 3, 2026, that the Department of Justice informed him his phone calls with a Virginia state legislator in spring were wiretapped. Subramanyam characterized the surveillance as part of a pattern of DOJ targeting President Trump's political enemies, citing investigations of state attorneys general and the former FBI director as evidence of politicized enforcement.

Supporting reports

• Congressional Democrats request GAO investigation into DHS secret surveillance using administrative summonses — Senators Ron Wyden and Representative Pramila Jayapal formally requested the Government Accountability Office investigate the Trump administration's Department of Homeland Security for using obscure administrative summonses to secretly collect records on journalists, non-profits, and unions without judicial oversight. The DHS Investigations arm obtained six months of phone records for Minneapolis journalist Georgia Fort, financial data on labor unions, and Venmo transactions for non-profits. The DHS also issued administrative subpoenas to tech companies requesting information on anonymous critics while pressuring recipients not to notify targets. Wyden and Jayapal asked the GAO to audit HSI's use of non-disclosure language and examine whether summonses were used outside their lawful customs authority.

Supporting reports

• DHS deployed 19 USC 1509 administrative summonses to obtain records on journalists, non-profits, and unions without judicial oversight — The Trump administration's Department of Homeland Security has systematically used an obscure customs law (19 USC 1509) to issue administrative summonses demanding records from social media companies and telecommunications providers targeting journalists (Georgia Fort, Don Lemon, Megyn Kelly, Brendan Gutenschwager, Democracy Now), unions (SEIU, Communications Workers of America), and left-leaning non-profits (Sunrise Movement, Voices for Racial Justice). The summonses bypass judicial review required for search warrants and include secrecy directives. Fort's six-month phone records from T-Mobile and YouTube account information were obtained after a federal judge had twice rejected similar warrant requests in February 2026, citing lack of probable cause.
• Trump administration uses customs law to obtain journalist records without judicial oversight — The Trump administration deployed an obscure legal maneuver to obtain private information on journalists, non-profits, and unions without judicial oversight. The Department of Homeland Security served Google with an administrative summons citing 19 USC 1509, a customs statute, to obtain YouTube account information for journalist Georgia Fort and Don Lemon. The summons bypassed judicial review required for search warrants, which a judge had twice rejected for lacking probable cause. DHS officials used the customs provision—designed to investigate import duties and taxes—to investigate a domestic protest at a Minneapolis church that the journalists were covering.

Supporting reports

• ICE agents conducting arrests in immigration courthouses despite prior judicial recognition of chilling effect — ICE agents have conducted high-profile mass arrests in immigration courthouses, stalking hallways and detaining immigrants. This practice reverses a shared understanding since at least 1996 between immigration judges and DHS that enforcement presence in courts creates a "chilling effect" on respondents' ability to present their cases. EOIR officials dismissed this concern as "contrary to logic." A federal judge has since blocked the policy, but the arrests have already created fear and distrust, causing many immigrants to avoid attending hearings.

Supporting reports

• DHS investigated left-wing groups after Alex Pretti's killing — The New York Times reported that the Department of Homeland Security quietly launched an investigation into several left-leaning political organizations in the wake of Alex Pretti's killing by federal immigration agents. The probe targeted many groups and individuals not connected to any criminal activity and involved expansive surveillance efforts, including infiltrating Signal group chats and obtaining financial records of organizations.
• Mayor Ginther ordered Columbus police to restrict Flock data sharing — Following an audit revealing 15,577 searches of Columbus's Flock network potentially related to immigration enforcement, Mayor Andrew Ginther issued an order directing Columbus police to stop statewide sharing of the city's Flock license plate data. Police had already restricted broader nationwide sharing. The order came after council members and residents questioned the use of the surveillance technology and its connection to federal immigration enforcement operations.
• Federal operation "Operation Puppet Master" targeted progressive organizations and anti-ICE activists — Court documents filed on Thursday reveal a federal operation called "Operation Puppet Master" that targeted progressive organizations, labor unions, and groups protesting the immigration crackdown in Minnesota. The Justice Department charged 15 defendants in June with crimes including conspiracy to impede federal officers, assault, threats, stalking, and destruction of government property. DHS officers entered meetings in churches, schools, and parks while working undercover, monitored activist chat groups, and used license plate numbers to identify people who attended gatherings. A DHS page titled "The Conspiracy" listed 18 organizations ranging from a Minneapolis bicycle repair collective to the AFL-CIO. At a January 31 meeting in Minneapolis, an undercover DHS officer listened as Sunrise Movement supporters discussed sit-ins, de-escalation, safety marshals, and police liaisons at events; the officer's report noted the group focused on peaceful protests.
• Columbus city council held six-hour hearing on Flock camera surveillance and immigration enforcement — Columbus residents and city officials spent approximately six hours on Monday debating the city's use of Flock Safety cameras. Council members questioned Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant and public safety officials about privacy, data sharing, and whether the city should continue using the technology. A recent audit found the Columbus Flock network had been searched 15,577 times for reasons potentially involving immigration enforcement, including searches by DHS, U.S. Border Patrol, and law enforcement participating in ICE's 287g program. Following the audit, Mayor Andrew Ginther ordered Columbus police to stop statewide sharing of Flock data.
• Flock Safety announced policy changes to address surveillance concerns — After months of backlash, Flock Safety announced new changes to its license plate reader policies. The company will reduce its standard data retention period from 30 days to 7 days, require law enforcement to use an auditing feature to identify abnormal searches, and require officers to connect searches to case codes from their records management systems. Flock will also give cities and police departments more control over the types of investigations outside agencies can conduct using the data, allowing jurisdictions to block outside searches tied to immigration enforcement. More than 50 agencies or jurisdictions have canceled, suspended, rejected, or deactivated Flock systems since the beginning of 2026.

Supporting reports

• DHS posts procurement forecast for ICE electric-shock glove contract — The Department of Homeland Security published a procurement forecast on August 10, 2026, announcing that Immigration and Customs Enforcement intends to purchase the CTG-5 G.L.O.V.E. (Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter), an electric-shock device manufactured by Compliant Technologies. The contract is estimated at $10 million to $20 million and could involve thousands of devices. The gloves deliver 324–362 volts through direct skin contact and are designed for use by ICE agents in Homeland Security Investigations and Enforcement and Removal Operations.
• ICE announces procurement of shock gloves for detainee control — On August 10, ICE published a notice announcing plans to spend up to $20 million on shock gloves that deliver electrical charges to subdue individuals. The manufacturer's warnings specify the device should subdue someone in three seconds or less, must not be used longer than 15 seconds, should not be used simultaneously on one person, must avoid the head, face, throat, chest, and groin, and must not be used on the elderly, children, pregnant women, people with severe disabilities, or as punishment or torture. The procurement represents a significant expansion of potentially harmful restraint technology.
• ICE procurement of electric shock gloves for immigration enforcement — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced plans to spend up to $20 million to purchase thousands of Glove (Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter) devices—gloves capable of delivering painful electric shocks—for use by officers and agents by March 2027. The manufacturer claims the devices induce compliance within three seconds without leaving marks. Civil rights advocates, including the ACLU, expressed alarm, citing ICE's existing pattern of force with minimal oversight and the risk of abuse in immigration enforcement contexts.
• DHS plans to equip ICE agents with electric shock gloves — The Department of Homeland Security announced plans to equip ICE agents with "Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter" (G.L.O.V.E.) gloves capable of delivering painful electric shocks to detainees. The devices, which have been used by some jails and police departments, are intended to be deployed by March 2027. DHS plans to spend up to $20 million to purchase thousands of the gloves. Tom Homan, on Fox News, characterized the devices as an alternative to lethal force for gaining compliance.
• ICE announced plan to purchase shock gloves — DHS published an acquisition forecast stating that ICE has a new requirement to purchase shock gloves, officially named "Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter." The gloves function as tactical gloves until an officer activates electric-shock mode, delivering a painful electrical stimulus intended to gain compliance through direct skin-to-skin contact. DHS estimates the contract at $10 million to $20 million, with ICE intending to issue the devices to officers and agents in Homeland Security Investigations and Enforcement and Removal Operations. The manufacturer's manual warns against use against vulnerable groups including children, pregnant people, the elderly, and those with severe disabilities, and recommends a maximum activation of 15 seconds. A pending lawsuit alleges a 43-year-old died when Kentucky jail officers shocked him 27 times with shock gloves and 13 times with a Taser in 2024.
• ICE plans to spend $20 million on electric shock gloves for agents — The Associated Press reported that ICE is planning to spend up to $20 million to give its agents electric shock gloves to use as part of enforcement operations. The manufacturer states the gloves should not be used on children, pregnant people, or elderly or disabled people. The gloves represent an expansion of force capabilities for an agency already known for excessive force.

Supporting reports

• Trump administration demands TANF recipient data from 24 states for immigration enforcement — Twenty-four states sued to block the Trump administration from obtaining personal records of families enrolled in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), a $16 billion annual program providing food, rent, and child care assistance. The administration seeks citizenship and immigration status verification data; California Attorney General Rob Bonta characterized the effort as exploiting a child-welfare program to fuel government surveillance. The administration argues the data collection is necessary to verify program eligibility.

Supporting reports

• Monroe County, Indiana, voted to terminate Flock contract early — Monroe County commissioners voted 2–0 to end their Flock Safety contract approximately one year early and agreed to pay approximately $3,000 to remove six cameras. Commissioner Jody Madeira characterized the removal cost as "$3,000 well spent," signaling local opposition to the automated license plate reader program despite its purported crime-solving utility.

Supporting reports

• Institute for Justice documented 28 cases of law enforcement abuse of license plate reader data — The Institute for Justice has documented at least 28 cases nationwide of law enforcement officers allegedly abusing automated license plate reader (ALPR) data to track romantic interests, including current partners, ex-partners, and strangers. Notable cases include a Milwaukee officer who looked up a woman's location 124 times and her ex 55 times; a Richmond County, Georgia deputy who searched one woman's plate 1,639 times. Most cases were not caught by internal audits; the Milwaukee case surfaced only when the victim discovered the abuse through a public website built from Flock's own audit data.

Supporting reports

• FBI requested voter's IP address as part of voter fraud investigation — Axios reported that Trump's FBI requested and received the IP address of an individual who registered online to vote in South Carolina as part of a new strategy by the administration to investigate alleged voter fraud. A former senior Justice Department official said it is both "not typical" and "not appropriate" for the FBI to conduct a "fishing expedition to see private voter data."

Supporting reports

• ICE paused vehicle stops after fatal shootings, then Trump reversed the pause — Following two fatal ICE shootings of men in vehicles in Texas and Maine in July 2026, ICE paused most vehicle stops as a safety measure. However, Trump swiftly reversed the pause, resuming aggressive vehicle-stop operations despite the documented pattern of shootings and wrongful charges.

Supporting reports

• ICE plans to target Haitians as Temporary Protected Status ends for 300,000 — CBS News reported that ICE is planning to expand operations to arrest and deport Haitians as hundreds of thousands of people from Haiti, which is experiencing widespread unrest, are set to lose their legal status following a Supreme Court ruling in June allowing the Trump administration to end Temporary Protected Status programs for Haitians and Syrians.

Supporting reports

• ICE's internal watchdog investigates U.S. citizens for speaking against agency — ICE's Office of Public Responsibility, tasked with conducting internal probes, is investigating U.S. citizens who have spoken out against the agency, according to reporting by Wired. Between January 2025 and March 2026, the office launched 131 investigations into "incidents of doxing and threats directed towards ICE employees nationwide," according to an April court declaration by an ICE official. The investigations target citizens exercising free speech rights to criticize the agency.

Supporting reports

• US Supreme Court rules geofence warrants require Fourth Amendment privacy protections — The US Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Chatrie v. US that law enforcement's use of geofence warrants—which compel tech companies to hand over smartphone location data from people near crime scenes—constitutes a Fourth Amendment search requiring constitutional privacy protections. Justice Elena Kagan wrote the majority opinion, holding that individuals have a reasonable expectation of privacy in cell phone location records even when in public spaces. The ruling rejected the government's argument that accessing limited location data does not trigger Fourth Amendment protections and clarified that opting into location services does not constitute voluntary consent to government surveillance.
• Court rules that law enforcement’s use of “geofence warrant” was a “search” — The court has ruled that the use of "geofence warrants" by law enforcement constitutes a "search" under the Fourth Amendment. This decision impacts how digital data can be accessed by authorities, requiring them to obtain a warrant before accessing location data from electronic devices. The ruling emphasizes the need for privacy protections in the digital age and sets a precedent for future cases involving digital privacy and law enforcement practices.
• Supreme Court releases opinion in Chatrie v. United States (25-112) — The Supreme Court released an official slip opinion in Chatrie v. United States. Docket number(s): 25-112.

Supporting reports

• National Design Studio installs undisclosed visitor-tracking software on federal websites — The National Design Studio (NDS), a White House office led by Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia and staffed by Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) veterans, rebuilt sensitive federal websites for passport applications, voter registration, prescription-drug pricing, and children's savings accounts. The NDS installed commercial visitor-tracking software (PostHog) configured to evade privacy tools on four public federal websites without publishing required privacy impact assessments or system-of-records notices mandated by the Privacy Act of 1974 and E-Government Act of 2002. The NDS removed the tracking software after Guardian inquiry on 4 June; White House responded 17 June claiming compliance with legal requirements.