FBI special agents searched an office of a progressive organization in Ohio on Thursday as part of a Justice Department investigation into its voter registration efforts, three people familiar with the matter told NBC News.
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The search at the Ohio Organizing Collaborative’s office comes as President Donald Trump continues to suggest without evidence that voter fraud is rampant, and repeats false claims about the 2020 presidential election. The FBI in February also raided a Georgia elections hub related to the 2020 presidential election, and California prosecutors have said they are looking into claims of voter fraud in the Los Angeles mayor’s race after Trump made unfounded suggestions of fraud.
Following the Ohio search, Prentiss Haney, a board member of the organization and its former director, accused the Trump administration of voter intimidation.
“It’s clear that this administration is fishing to try to drum up stories around fraud,” Haney told NBC News on Thursday night. “It’s clear that this administration is trying to target civil rights leaders and community leaders and folks who are doing that work, because they don’t see a path for themselves to actually legitimately hold power beyond this year.”
A spokesperson for the FBI Cleveland Field Office confirmed law enforcement activity at the Ohio Organizing Collaborative.
A Justice Department official said that search warrants “are authorized by a judge and anything said by any organization or others in the media is unfounded speculation, as the target of any investigation is not privy to the search warrant affidavit until after indictment.”
Voter fraud in the United States is uncommon, according to government officials and election experts. And there would have to be a massive coordinated effort in order to affect the outcome of any election.
Formed in 2007, the Ohio Organizing Collaborative says its mission is to “organize everyday Ohioans, building transformative power organizations for racial, social, and economic justice.” Back in 2017, a paid canvasser for the organization pleaded guilty in a fraudulent voter registration scheme.
Haney said they were shocked by the FBI’s actions, which he said included sending special agents to the homes of people affiliated with the organization.
“They’re weaponizing the government, the federal government, and using taxpayer dollars to do illegitimate investigations in the state,” Haney said, accusing the administration of intimidation with “mob boss energy.”
Rep. Shontel Brown, D-Ohio, said she was alarmed by the development.
“My office has contacted the FBI demanding information, and I am deeply concerned that this is an effort to use federal law enforcement to intimidate and halt voter registration and organizing efforts,” she said in a statement. “This is an unprecedented attack on democracy: these raids must end immediately.”
U.S. Attorney David Toepfer of the Northern District of Ohio was in Washington as the search took place Thursday. Toepfer had participated in a press conference, where acting Attorney General Todd Blanche had announced three immigration-related cases stemming from the Northern District of Ohio. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
MS NOW first reported on the Ohio Organizing Collaborative search.
News of the search comes amid a broader effort by the Trump administration to charge individuals with voting-related crimes. Trump has made baseless claims of mass voter fraud and refused to concede his 2020 election loss, launching a campaign to overturn the results of the election which culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose last year referred hundreds of cases to the Justice Department, saying that more than 1,000 noncitizens appeared to have registered to vote, and that 167 had cast ballots over the course of four federal elections dating back to 2018. It’s not clear what happened with those referrals. A spokesperson for LaRose did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the law enforcement activity Thursday was connected to the referrals.
