The F.B.I. director, Kash Patel, suggested on Tuesday that he was open to sending federal agents to polling places, raising alarms from Democrats that the Trump administration would act aggressively to assert greater control over the coming elections. The remarks, made during testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, stood at odds with earlier comments indicating that he did not intend to send federal agents to polling places around the country. However, when Senator Peter Welch, Democrat of Vermont, pressed the issue, Mr.
Patel seemed to reverse course. Patel declared, raising his voice. Welch revisited the issue.
Patel replied, appearing to refer to what are known as election crime coordinators. This F.B.I. will not shy away from that effort.” Under the law, armed federal officers or military personnel are barred from being deployed “at any place where a general or special election is held.” The chairman of the Joint Chief of Staffs said in a letter to a Democratic senator last month that there were “no plans” for the armed forces to deploy troops to polling stations for the midterm elections. As President Trump has ramped up his efforts to cast doubt on the integrity of the vote in an election his party might lose, Democrats have sought assurances from Trump administration officials that they will follow the law, which carries a potential five-year prison sentence for any violations.
The president regularly declares the 2020 election he lost was “rigged,” and has said the only way Democrats can win control of Congress this year is by cheating. The claims have only fueled broader concerns that loyalists within the administration may wage a pressure campaign against state officials to produce election results favorable to Mr. When he was first asked about the issue at the hearing, Mr.
Patel vowed to “follow the law.” “If there’s a reason to go there because there’s been a violation, we will, otherwise we won’t,” he added, noting that “we’re going to house our agents and intel analysts in our field offices.” Historically, the Justice Department used workers at its public integrity unit to consult with prosecutors and agents around the country on sensitive investigative issues around elections. But the Trump administration dismantled that unit last year, leaving it unclear who in the department and the F.B.I. would handle such critical decisions in the final days of the election cycle. Every F.B.I. field office and U.S. attorney’s office in the country has someone assigned to coordinate election-related cases, but those people have traditionally relied on guidance from the public integrity section in Washington.
They often advised caution and restraint to avoid the appearance of interference by the federal government. Welch expressed alarm at Mr. Patel’s responses, saying they suggested he could harness the power of the federal government to try to affect election outcomes.
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