The Trump administration is actively working to “destabilize” the 2026 midterm elections in a plot to expand its executive power, election law expert David Becker warned in a New York Times report Saturday.
That plot, Becker argued, was made evident by the FBI’s unprecedented raid on a Georgia election center last week, where agents – controversially accompanied by National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard – seized hundreds of boxes of election materials in Fulton County, the heart of President Donald Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was “rigged.”
Becker, who leads the Center for Election Innovation and Research as its executive director, told the Times that it was “very unlikely” that the FBI raid was sparked by any new evidence. And, in the absence of any new evidence of election fraud, the motivation behind the raid was clear, Becker argued.
“So if that’s not the purpose, then the purpose must be to create a false narrative around election security that’s designed to destabilize the 2026 election, and what they might use that narrative to justify in terms of executive power in the states,” Becker said.
Trump’s recent comments also give credence to Becker’s warning. On Monday, Trump told his former FBI deputy director Dan Bongino that Republicans should take control of the election process in “at least 15 places,” citing his false theories about systemic voter fraud in the 2020 election.
Republican lawmakers have struggled to defend Trump’s comments about expanding the federal government’s control over the election process, with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) openly objecting to Trump’s pitch to federalize elections.
Thune was joined in his opposition by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who argued that Trump’s pitch to federalize elections ran at direct odds with the Constitution. Others took a more evasive approach, including Rep. Tony Gonzalez (R-TX), who repeatedly dodged questions about Trump’s proposal during a CNN appearance this week.
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