DHS employees made potentially illegal searches of voter data: Whistleblower
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Stock: Getty Images
Department of Homeland Security employees were instructed to access state voter databases in ways a whistleblower alleges violate state law, according to a new report.
Why it matters: The policy signals the Trump administration's persistence in trying to root out purported voter fraud by any means necessary.
Driving the news: The whistleblower report, released by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), details a protected whistleblower disclosure that "reveals serious allegations of illegal and inappropriate activities" within DHS' Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate.
- Employees have been asked to access sensitive voter information in state voter databases of people flagged by DHS as potential "unlawful voters," the report says.
- The whistleblower says the process can result in errors involving naturalized U.S. citizens, potentially subjecting them to secondary customs screenings at airports, or criminal referrals to Homeland Security Investigations.
Zoom in: Some states, such as Virginia and Florida, require users signing onto the databases to legally confirm that they are the voter or an expressly authorized representative, meaning federal officers are effectively making false statements to access private records, the report says.
- Officers are also under tremendous pressure to review and verify a person's citizenship status in 12 minutes and enter it into a law enforcement record.
- The whistleblower says officers were told to rely on data they knew could be inaccurate, and employees' training on the new procedures amounted to a less-than-two-hour video.
- As a result, U.S. citizens are being investigated through the initiative "without their knowledge or ability to correct erroneous data," the report says.
When officers questioned the practice, they were told individual officers would not be held personally liable for the searches, which the report says could indicate that the agency "is aware that the activity may be illegal."
What they're saying: "The Department of Homeland Security is sending hundreds of officers who should be focused on our security on a wild goose chase to prove Trump's long-debunked election conspiracy theories – and DHS is telling officers to lie to do it," Schumer said in an emailed statement.
- "This new DHS initiative is nothing more than an unlawful order by the government to silence the voices of Americans," he said. "Trump may try to steal this election, but we will make sure he can never be successful."
- DHS and the White House did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.
Zoom out: The whistleblower report comes as the administration has been trying — and failing — to obtain sensitive voter information.
- The administration is seeking information such as driver's license numbers and partial Social Security numbers, demanding that every state hand over voter registration lists, previous election ballots and access to voting equipment.
- Federal courts have repeatedly rejected the DOJ's attempts to force states to turn over voter data, though litigation is ongoing in some states. 16 others voluntarily provided or agreed to provide voter files.
Attorneys suing the government say the requests raise privacy and security concerns and likely violate various state and federal laws.
- Multiple audits have found no evidence of widespread voter fraud in America or proof that large numbers of noncitizens are voting.
What we're watching: Schumer and Padilla want DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin to stop the initiative and brief Congress on its activities—it's unclear whether he will agree to do so.
