To bolster his efforts to control elections,
Trump has stacked the Department of Justice ( #DOJ ) with officials who have supported his baseless claims of rampant voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election
and who may have worked to overturn state election results on behalf of his campaign.
These include top officials like Attorney General #Pam #Bondi and FBI Director #Kash #Patel
— both of whom would not say who won the 2020 election during their confirmation hearings.
But it also includes those selected to lead offices that enforce federal laws protecting the right to vote.
Trump nominated #Harmeet #Dhillon, one of his loyal allies who has been involved in dozens of lawsuits challenging voting rights laws, redistricting and election processes,
to lead the Civil Rights Division.
Often referred to as the “crown jewel” of the DOJ, the division is core to protecting civil rights and liberties.
Dhillon has yet to be confirmed,
but the Civil Rights Division has already abruptly shifted away from defending voting rights.
So far, it’s dropped voting rights lawsuits against Texas, Virginia and Alabama.
It also retracted a previous request to participate in a lawsuit over unfair voting maps in Louisiana that’s set to be heard by the Supreme Court.
Weiner, the Brennan Center director, said that the country,
even in Trump’s first term,
never had a DOJ so readily turned into “the president’s personal law firm.”
“Which is just not what the DOJ is.
It’s just not what anyone has understood the DOJ to be,” Weiner said.
“But it is incredibly risky.”
In future elections, such officials may be more willing to not act if voting rights are threatened,
or could oppose efforts to protect voting rights.
They may also be more likely to pursue criminal investigations, and even prosecutions, against voters and election administrators over spurious allegations of fraud.
