The Dispute Index

Raja Krishnamoorthi

Portrait of Raja Krishnamoorthi
U.S. House Office of Photography

Raja Krishnamoorthi is a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois.

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What we have documented

We have documented statements by Raja Krishnamoorthi on 2026 Midterm Elections, Election Security, and Government Transparency, among other topics. Read the quotations, original sources and related cases below.

Topics in this coverage

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Statements by Raja Krishnamoorthi

Portrait of Raja Krishnamoorthi

Raja Krishnamoorthi

Role at the time: U.S. representative for Illinois

Condemned

Statement summary

Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi characterized Bo French’s earlier UT Austin fan post as a xenophobic attack while interpreting a later Department of Education post as connected to it.

“The Department of Education seems to be playing dog whistles to Bo French’s tune just days after his xenophobic attack on South Asian students for cheering for their own college football team. South Asian Americans are as American as anyone.”
Read the original post (opens in a new tab)Raja Krishnamoorthi links Education Department post to Bo French controversyFull post text.
Why we used this label

Relative to the UT fan post under review, Krishnamoorthi expressly calls the conduct a xenophobic attack. His interpretation of the Department of Education post provides context but does not displace the direct condemnation of French’s post.

Read statementFull case: Was Bo French’s UT Austin post racist?
Portrait of Raja Krishnamoorthi

Raja Krishnamoorthi

Role at the time: U.S. Representative (D-IL-8), in a post on his official X account (@CongressmanRaja), cross-posted to his official Threads account

Condemned

Statement summary

In a post on X that links the Washington Post's report, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) said the Pentagon has not given the American people a full accounting of the service members who have died in the Middle East during the Iran war, that troops and their families deserve the truth, and that the Pentagon needs to come clean about the real toll of the war.

“The Pentagon has not given the American people a full accounting of the service members who have died in the Middle East during Trump's Iran war. Our troops and their families deserve the truth. The Pentagon needs to come clean about the real toll of this war.”
Read the original post (opens in a new tab)Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi's post on X about the Pentagon's Iran war casualty accounting · Raja KrishnamoorthiPost text, two paragraphs, followed by a link to the Washington Post article
Why we used this label

Krishnamoorthi, in a post linking the Post's report, says the Pentagon has not given a full accounting and needs to come clean about the real toll, which expressly criticizes the completeness of the public count. The closest competing label is Challenged the characterization, because he does not give an alternative total. That loses because he does not merely dispute a description; he faults the Pentagon for not providing a full accounting and calls on it to come clean. The post does not independently establish the reported total, which remains attributed to the Post.

Read statementFull case: Is the Pentagon's public count of U.S. military deaths in the Iran war complete?
Portrait of Raja Krishnamoorthi

Raja Krishnamoorthi

Role at the time: U.S. Representative (D-IL), writing to the Attorney General

Condemned

Response to this claim

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.

“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.”
Read the official statement (opens in a new tab)Letter from Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi to Attorney General Todd Blanche on Director Patel's testimony on elections · Raja KrishnamoorthiLetter dated September 17, 2026, page 1 (opening paragraphs) and the four numbered questions
Why we used 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.

Read statementFull case: Patel questioned on FBI presence at Michigan polling places after John James claim
Portrait of Raja Krishnamoorthi

Raja Krishnamoorthi

Role at the time: U.S. Representative, Illinois 8th district

Condemned

Statement summary

Raja Krishnamoorthi voted Yea on H.Con.Res. 93, the House resolution directing the President to remove U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities with Iran.

“On Agreeing to the Resolution: Directing the President, pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution, to remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities with Iran.”
Read the official statement (opens in a new tab)U.S. House Roll Call Vote 307: H.Con.Res. 93, Iran War Powers Resolution (agreed to, 220-204)
Why we used this label

A yea vote supported directing the President to remove U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities with Iran, opposing continued U.S. involvement in the war without congressional authorization.

Read statementFull case: Do they support the war in Iran?
Portrait of Raja Krishnamoorthi

Raja Krishnamoorthi

Role at the time: U.S. representative

Mixed or conditional

Statement summary

Raja Krishnamoorthi sponsored a bill that would pressure states to limit ALPR use to tolls and specified public-safety investigations.

“prohibits the use of automated license plate readers for any use other than the following: (1) Enforcing toll systems. (2) Identifying stolen vehicles, missing or endangered persons, vehicles registered to persons with a warrant for a felony offense, or investigating a vehicle involved in a felony offense.”
Read the original text (opens in a new tab)NO FLOCK Act, H.R. 10366, introduced textIntroducers and Section 2 permitted uses
Why we used this label

The bill preserves enumerated ALPR uses rather than eliminating the technology.

Read statementFull case: Should Flock-style license-plate surveillance networks exist?
Portrait of Raja Krishnamoorthi

Raja Krishnamoorthi

Role at the time: U.S. representative posting through his official congressional X account.

Condemned

Response to this claim

French’s posts demeaned the pictured people because of their race or ethnicity.

“Bo, you don’t know America. Your xenophobic hate toward South Asian students is disgraceful and part of a broader rise in attacks targeting South Asian Americans across the country. These young people were cheering for their university, and you chose to demonize them based solely on how they look.”
Read the original post (opens in a new tab)Raja Krishnamoorthi condemns Bo French’s post as xenophobicX post 2099248617932615800.
Why we used this label

Krishnamoorthi explicitly condemns the conduct under scrutiny and identifies appearance-based treatment as the reason.

Read statementFull case: Was Bo French’s UT Austin post racist?
Portrait of Raja Krishnamoorthi

Raja Krishnamoorthi

Role at the time: U.S. representative from Illinois and member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

Condemned

Statement summary

In a September 4 letter to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) wrote that voters should not have to wonder whether federal immigration agents could appear at or near their polling place, and that the presence of armed federal agents there could create confusion, fear or intimidation. He wrote that DHS cannot maintain both that ICE has "no reason" to be near a polling place and that its Special Response Teams stand ready to deploy there.

“With early voting and Election Day fast approaching, voters should not have to wonder whether federal immigration agents could appear at or near their polling place while they are casting their ballots. The presence of armed federal agents at or near a polling location—even when ostensibly responding to a separate law-enforcement matter—could create confusion, fear, or intimidation and could discourage eligible voters from exercising their constitutional right to vote. The Department cannot simultaneously maintain, on one hand, that ICE has ‘no reason’ to be near a polling place, and on the other, that its Special Response Teams stand ready to deploy there. As the Department's Secretary, you are uniquely positioned to end this ambiguity.”
Read the official statement (opens in a new tab)Krishnamoorthi Sounds Alarm as Trump Administration Continues to Threaten to Deploy Armed Federal Agents to Polling PlacesPress release of September 4, 2026; passages from the letter appear after "In the letter, Krishnamoorthi writes" and "Krishnamoorthi writes"
Why we used this label

The reference point is the administration's stated or threatened use of ICE and other armed federal agents at or near polling places in the 2026 election. Krishnamoorthi wrote that the presence of armed federal agents at or near a polling location could create confusion, fear or intimidation and discourage eligible voters, that federal law restricts armed personnel at polling places, and that DHS cannot hold two contradictory positions on whether ICE could be near a polling place. That criticizes the stated or threatened use and the administration's refusal to rule it out, so we labeled it Condemned.

Read statementFull case: Should ICE and other armed federal agents be allowed at or near polling places in the 2026 election?
Portrait of Raja Krishnamoorthi

Raja Krishnamoorthi

Role at the time: United States Representative, Illinois's 8th district

Condemned

Statement summary

In an Illinois Public Media interview, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi called the war a colossal disaster that is illegal and unconstitutional, citing $5 to $6 gas, rising fertilizer and grocery prices, and the mounting human cost.

“It's a colossal disaster. It is illegal. It's unconstitutional, but it's also causing tremendous hardship for Americans.”
Open the original interview (opens in a new tab)Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi on Iran war, funding ICE, and redistricting
Why we used this label

Krishnamoorthi called the war illegal, unconstitutional and a disaster, a clear opposition position.

Read statementFull case: Do they support the war in Iran?
Older statements

A participant is a subject of the case. A speaker has a statement documented in it. A commentator has an opinion or editorial documented in it.

Case

Was Bo French’s UT Austin post racist?

Relationship to this case: Speaker

Bo French used an image of apparent South Asian UT fans to argue that foreigners were displacing Americans. Critics called the posts racist or xenophobic; French and supporters said they raised a legitimate immigration and admissions dispute.

U.S. PoliticsRacismUpdated

Case

Do they support the war in Iran?

Relationship to this case: Speaker

An issue tracker recording where members of Congress and 2026 midterm candidates stand on the unauthorized Iran war, based on their votes on war-powers resolutions, campaign statements, and public remarks.

Iran WarU.S. PoliticsUpdated