The Democratic National Committee on Tuesday sued the Trump administration to force it to give up its election plans, according to The New York Times.
The Trump administration has not denied whether armed federal agents or military personnel would be stationed at polling places or election offices in the United States, The Times reported. The lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., outlines how multiple Freedom of Information Act requests sent to the Department of Justice, the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security in October have not yet received any responses.
“To ensure that the American people obtain timely knowledge of potential threats to free and fair elections and to enable the D.N.C. to take appropriate action to ensure voting rights are protected, the D.N.C. now seeks this Court’s aid to enforce” Freedom of Information Act requirements stated in the requests, according to the lawsuit.
The move comes after White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt commented during a press briefing with reporters last month that the Trump administration had not excluded stationing federal law enforcement at polling locations.
“I can’t guarantee that an ICE agent won’t be around a polling location in November — that’s frankly a very silly hypothetical question,” Leavitt said. “But what I can tell you is I haven’t heard the president discuss any formal plans to put ICE outside of polling locations.”
Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that “there are no plans to have ICE officers at our polling locations” during a heated hearing with lawmakers last week. She did not deny or confirm whether the Trump administration has decided to “rule out” the decision.
Another Trump official, Heather Honey, the deputy assistant secretary for election integrity at the Department of Homeland Security, reportedly said that there would be no federal agents involved in polling locations.
“There will be no ICE presence at polling locations for this election,” Honey said, according to a Times source who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
“The Democrats’ lawsuit suggests they are not convinced — and won’t be until they receive more concrete confirmation that no plans or discussions are underway,” The Times reported.
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