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