Krishnamoorthi says Patel's ambiguity on agents at the polls is "difficult to reconcile with federal law"

In a September 17 letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) said that when Sen. Peter Welch raised John James's account, Patel did not deny the substance of the reported conversation, and that Patel's refusal to rule out FBI agents at polling places was difficult to reconcile with federal law. He asked Blanche to answer questions in writing by September 24, including whether Patel or any Department official told James the FBI would have a presence in Michigan.

“This ambiguity is difficult to reconcile with federal law. Since 1948, 18 U.S.C. § 592 has made it a felony for any officer "in the civil, military, or naval service of the United States" to order, bring, or keep "armed men" at any place where a general election is held, absent the need to repel armed enemies of the United States. The penalty includes up to five years' imprisonment and disqualification from federal office. The Department's own manual on the Federal Prosecution of Election Offenses has long construed that provision to reach armed federal agents, not merely military personnel. Director Patel's stated uncertainty about whether the Bureau may lawfully send agents to the polls is therefore not a close legal question. It is a question the Department answered decades ago, in its own published guidance.”