Some FBI agents are privately bracing for orders from President Donald Trump's administration that they fear would upend next week's elections.
Agents have voiced worries that they'll be told to seize voting machines or carry out other moves that disrupt election results, seven people familiar with internal conversations at the bureau told MS NOW in a report published Wednesday.
Current and former FBI officials said recent administration actions appeared aimed at casting doubt on the voting process, leaving some agents alarmed that they'd be directed to chase shaky fraud claims using legally dubious tactics.
"I'm worried about that situation for sure," one current FBI official told MS NOW. "We have all the evidence we need to expect at least one U.S. Attorney and one FBI agent to be willing to sign on to such actions, such as Georgia and Arizona."
Federal law bars armed agents from polling places. But officials who spoke to MS NOW said they feared the Justice Department would pursue warrants built on flimsy fraud allegations, which in theory would let armed officers legally sweep in and take ballots or equipment.
They pointed to the FBI's January raid in Fulton County, Georgia, where agents hauled away ballots under a warrant that leaned heavily on long-debunked claims about the 2020 election. In March, the bureau also collected voting records and equipment tied to the GOP-led 2020 review in Maricopa County, Arizona. Neither move has produced criminal charges.
"I and others are worried that the FBI will be the administration's arm into seizing voting machines or issuing warrants on questionable probable cause," said Rob D'Amico, a former supervisory FBI agent. "It is going to take people of high moral character to hold the line between doing what they're told and doing what is right and lawful."
Top officials have done little to calm those nerves. At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in September, FBI Director Kash Patel answered a question from Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) about sending agents to polling places by saying, "I don't know that we can't legally do it." Attorney General Todd Blanche has also refused to rule out postelection moves by the Justice Department.
States are already preparing for the worst. According to MS NOW, one unnamed state attorney general wrote to federal judges asking for a chance to respond before any warrant targeting ballots or voting equipment is approved, while election administrators have spent months planning for scenarios including federal agents arriving at polling sites or their top election official being taken into custody.
A former senior FBI agent warned the administration's aim appeared to be muddying any results it dislikes. "This administration is clearly willing to throw anything at the wall and see if it sticks," he said. "So, big picture, I'm concerned they'll cast doubt on the results, tie states up in litigation, and try to delay certification."
The FBI did not immediately respond to MS NOW's request for comment.