Krishnamoorthi says Patel's ambiguity on agents at the polls is "difficult to reconcile with federal law"
U.S. Representative (D-IL), writing to the Attorney General
“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.”
Source and context
Official statement
About this source
Letter from U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) to Attorney General Todd Blanche following FBI Director Kash Patel's September 15, 2026 Senate Judiciary Committee testimony. It asks the Department of Justice to answer four questions in writing by September 24, including whether Patel or any other official told Michigan candidate John James that the FBI would have a presence in Michigan.
Official statement
About this source
Press release from Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi's office announcing his September 17, 2026 letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche about FBI Director Kash Patel's Senate testimony on FBI agents at polling places.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
At the September 15 Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing, Welch asked Patel whether James's account of a conversation about an FBI presence in Michigan was true, and Patel answered by describing election crimes coordinators in each field office. When Welch raised the report, Director Patel did not deny the substance of the conversation and instead grew confrontational with the Senator, Krishnamoorthi's letter says.
After the quotation
The letter asks whether the Justice Department has a written policy barring FBI agents from polling places absent a specific report of a federal crime, whether that policy has changed, and whether the Department will commit that no FBI personnel will be stationed at polling places during voting hours.
How this statement is classified
Responding to: Kash Patel privately told John James that the FBI will have a presence leading up to Election Day in Michigan, in both West Michigan and Southeast Michigan.
The label describes this statement’s response within the context above.
Why this label?
Krishnamoorthi treats Patel's non-denial and refusal to rule out agents at polling places as unlawful ambiguity, which condemns the conduct rather than only disputing how it has been described.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- Kash Patel
Patel questioned on FBI presence at Michigan polling places after John James claim
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