Blanche sidesteps questions on federal agents at election sites
· Axios
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche declined Wednesday to explicitly rule out deploying federal agents to polling places, saying only that he would "follow the law."
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Why it matters: Lawsuits challenging the Trump administration's use of federal agents near polling places are setting up a legal fight over whether those deployments violate federal protections against voter intimidation.
What they're saying: When Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) asked whether Blanche would "commit to following clear federal law" by not deploying armed federal agents to polling places, Blanche replied that he would "commit to following the law … no matter what it includes."
- Klobuchar also asked if he understood why federal agents are a concern to voters, as some advocacy groups say it's a form of voter intimidation.
- "I'm not aware of armed agents being at polling places, so I don't. I'm not aware of that concern, but I will tell you we will follow the law."
Context: Federal law generally prohibits "troops or armed men" from being deployed to polling places, except in narrow circumstances, such as repelling "armed enemies" of the U.S.
Driving the news: In response to an FOIA request, U.S. Customs and Border Protection denied it had any documents related to ICE deployments at polling places.
- The agency later reversed course after the plaintiff pointed to agents deployed outside active voting sites in both Texas and California.
- A federal judge then ordered CBP to begin processing any documents relating to potential ICE deployments at polling locations on Monday.
Between the lines: Multiple administration officials have also declined to explicitly rule out ICE presence near polling places, including Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
- Mullin said ICE wouldn't be present for "intimidation" purposes, but could be present if a "specific threat" arises. He said he was unable to predict what kind of threat might warrant ICE presence.
- Leavitt said in February that she couldn't "guarantee that an ICE agent won't be around a polling location in November," but noted the president wasn't considering such a proposal.
- DHS and DOJ did not immediately respond to Axios' Wednesday afternoon requests for comment.
Flashback: Blanche told attendees at CPAC earlier this year that Americans shouldn't have objections to ICE at polling places.
- "Why is there objection to sending ICE officers to polling places?" Blanche asked. "Illegals can't vote. It doesn't make any sense."
Zoom out: There is no evidence that undocumented immigrants have illegally voted in U.S. elections in numbers large enough to sway the outcome.
- Voting rights groups say federal agents at polls can intimidate voters, causing some Americans to feel unsafe and chilling voter turnout.
- Multiple federal statutes prohibit voter intimidation, making it illegal to intimidate, threaten, or coerce a person with the intent of "interfering" with that person's right to vote.
Go deeper: Exclusive: ICE obtains local voter files in Texas and North Carolina