Secret gathering lays out plan to stop Trump from 'perverting the election'

A group of 10 Democratic senators and the party's top election lawyers quietly convened to game out responses to what they fear could be an unprecedented attempt to disrupt or overturn the results of this fall's midterm elections.

The closed-door session, first reported by Politico, brought together a roster of high-profile legal and political strategists, including former Attorney General Eric Holder and prominent Democratic election attorney Marc Elias, to walk senators through a series of extreme yet increasingly plausible scenarios. Among them: armed federal agents stationed at polling locations, the Justice Department seizing ballots in competitive races and a foreign-backed disinformation campaign powered by AI-generated deepfakes.

"Trump has talked about stealing the election, violating the election, perverting the election, over and over again," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who convened last week's meeting. "We are going to be prepared for anything that he throws at us."

The tabletop exercises, the first major effort from an election-protection task force Schumer launched earlier this year, produced concrete legal playbooks. Participants mapped out injunctions to block armed agents or citizens from appearing at voting sites, and drafted lawsuit strategies to compel the Trump administration to return ballots if confiscated in key battleground contests. They also coordinated messaging plans to counter disinformation in real time across campaigns, elected officials and advocacy groups.

Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and Alex Padilla (D-CA) were among those who participated, and a second exercise is already being scheduled for July.

The urgency behind the effort stems from a string of actions the Trump administration has already taken.

It has seized 2020 ballots from swing counties in Georgia and Arizona, sought confidential voter files from nearly every state, and pushed executive orders aimed at restricting mail-in voting and federalizing parts of the election process. When asked last month whether he would send troops or immigration agents to polling sites, Trump said he would do "anything necessary" to ensure honest elections.

Democrats are careful to acknowledge the limits of their power as the minority party — they cannot force hearings, and most legal battles are expected to be fought by state attorneys general and outside groups rather than Congress. Some in the party have also privately warned against catastrophizing the issue, noting it could suppress Democratic turnout as much as Republican tactics.

“This administration is one that wants people to feel alone, they want people to be afraid," said Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, who took part in the war games. “This exercise is actually an exercise in confidence and trustbuilding."

But Schumer signaled the preparations will continue regardless.

"We know that the threats are broad," Schumer said. "They evolve, and we're preparing for them."