Democrats sue for answers about potential Trump plans to deploy armed agents to polls

The Democratic National Committee sued the Trump administration on Tuesday, accusing several federal agencies of violating the Freedom of Information Act by withholding information about potential plans to deploy armed federal agents to polling sites.

The lawsuit alleged the Justice Department, Homeland Security Department and Defense Department failed to respond to 11 FOIA requests filed by the DNC last fall. The federal law requires federal agencies to provide information to the public through records requests in order to maintain transparency and accountability.

But in its 18-page lawsuit, the DNC said the requests it sent “seeking records related to the deployment of uniformed military or national guard personnel to polling places, ballot drop boxes, or election offices” were never resolved, which is a violation of the law. 

Though federal agencies can deny records requests if they fall under a handful of exemptions, mostly related to national security and personal privacy, the agencies are required to respond.

“FOIA requires agencies to provide a substantive response to FOIA requests ‘within 20 days’ — excluding weekends and holidays — which may be extended for no more than ‘ten working days,’” the lawsuit said, adding that it has been more than four months since the DNC filed its requests.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., and has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, an Obama appointee. As part of its lawsuit, the DNC asked the court to compel the Trump administration to produce the requested records.

A spokesperson for the DOJ called the lawsuit “frivolous,” in a statement to MS NOW, adding the outcome of the litigation “will have no impact on voters in November.”

The Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to MS NOW’s requests for comment.

Federal law bans the deployment of military personnel and federal agents at general and special election sites. But months of public rhetoric from President Donald Trump and his administration officials about potentially nationalizing elections and neutralizing state control over them have conjured widespread fear of voter intimidation among Democrats and voting rights advocates. 

“These and many other actions have raised serious concerns among voters across the country that the President will order armed federal agents or troops to polling places, drop boxes, and election offices,” the DNC said in the lawsuit, adding concern that Trump will order FBI agents and DOJ officials to interfere with the orderly administration and certification of elections.

Since his return to the White House last year, Trump has used the resources at his disposal to perpetuate baseless claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election. Federal agents in January executed an unannounced search of the Fulton County Elections Hub and Operation Center near Atlanta, Georgia, during which hundreds of boxes of original ballots, tabulator tapes, digital ballot images and voter rolls from the certified 2020 presidential election were seized.

On Monday, the FBI seized voting records from Maricopa County, Arizona, related to a 2020 GOP-commissioned review of the election results in the swing state’s most populous county, where Trump lost to former President Joe Biden. 

After Trump said he regretted not deploying the National Guard to seize voting machines to be searched for possible fraud following the 2020 election, concern exploded among Democrats and voting rights groups that he would deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers at polling locations across the country.

During a press briefing on Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said she has never heard Trump consider sending ICE or other armed federal agents to monitor precincts on Election Day.

Trump has applied tremendous pressure on congressional Republicans to pass the SAVE America Act, a bill that would impose new voter identification requirements nationwide.

The DOJ has sued at least 29 states for what it has described as the states’ refusal to hand over full voter registration lists. Many states have argued against turning over the rolls, which contain troves of  voters’ sensitive private data, like driver’s license numbers and the last four digits of Social Security numbers.

In a statement Tuesday, DNC Chairman Ken Martin accused Trump of pushing for federalized elections because he wants to “cheat his way through a midterm election that he knows Republicans will lose.”

“The DNC will stand on the side of voters and use every tool in our arsenal to stop voter suppression and intimidation before it can even begin,” Martin said.