Hello, happy Thursday!
This week, we’ll be revisiting the very bizarre and sinister revelation from a few months ago involving members of Elon Musk’s DOGE team working with an advocacy group to find “evidence of voter fraud,” the role of Georgia’s MAGA-aligned state election board in the Fulton County FBI raid, and, of course, the latest developments in the nationwide redistricting battle as we barrel towards the midterms.
Let’s dig in.
Dems Demand Investigation Into DOGE Voter Data Agreement
Democratic lawmakers are demanding an investigation into DOGE’s voter data pact.
Let’s back up a little first.
In January, the DOJ conceded in a very weird court filing that in March 2025, two members of Musk’s DOGE team who were working at the Social Security Administration, signed an agreement with an advocacy group that wanted to “find evidence of voter fraud and to overturn election results in certain States.”
If this sounds bad and odd, it’s because it is.
In its filing, the DOJ said that one of these DOGE staffers signed a “Voter Data Agreement” with the advocacy group, and may have tried to use Social Security data to search for evidence of voter fraud.
The DOJ never named the “advocacy group” in the court filing, which is why Rep. John B. Larson (D-CT), Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) and Rep. Joe Morelle (D-NY) announced in a recent letter that they are launching an investigation into this whole episode.
(They want answers, and, frankly, so do I!)
These lawmakers are sending letters to 15 known election denial groups (including organizations like True the Vote and the America First Policy Institute), asking for any records to help them identify which group was involved in this scheme.
“When Americans share their sensitive information with the federal government, they are entrusting that it is in good hands and protected from unwanted eyes,” Garcia said in last week’s letter. “Legally, this should always be the case. Unfortunately, what we are hearing from whistleblowers and seeing in court documents suggests that Trump’s ‘DOGE’ is violating Americans’ privacy for its own political gain.”
“Sensitive personal information provided to the government should never be used for political reasons,” Morelle said. “Yet DOGE signed an agreement to share such information with an advocacy group whose stated goal was to overturn election results.”
A Reminder That Election Deniers Are Running Elections in Georgia
The Georgia state election board —a five-person board made up of three MAGA-aligned members, Janelle King, Janice Johnston and Rick Jeffares — may have been involved in the Fulton County FBI raid.
Trump once referred to these three members of the board as “pitbulls, fighting for honesty, transparency, and victory.” (Spoiler alert — this is very much the opposite of what these board members have been doing.)
According to recent reporting from AJC, Johnston played a significant role in the FBI raid of an election hub in Fulton County, Georgia this past January.
As AJC details, for years now, Johnston has claimed there was voter fraud in Fulton County in 2020. (It goes without saying that she has never once provided a shred of evidence to back up these claims). Johnson was actually cited as a key witness in the FBI’s affidavit for the January raid.
Since 2022, Johnston has been repeating lies about the 2020 election and has called for the firing of the Fulton County elections director.
After the MAGA allies were installed in 2024, the board approved a rule to give itself new authority over election certification.
The rule is problematic because it gives the board the power to delay certification until after a “reasonable inquiry” has been made into any discrepancies in the voting process, as TPM has reported. The problem is that the rule is intentionally vague, leaving things like “discrepancies” open to its own interpretation.
And the board is really only meant to hold a mostly ministerial role in the certification process, according to state law.
As experts have explained to TPM, it is (unsurprisingly) all designed to give these election deniers more power.
Around the States: Redistricting
Florida
In a win for Republicans, the Florida Supreme Court on Friday rejected a challenge to Gov. Ron Desantis’ redistricting push.
The challenge was brought forth by two Florida voters and the National Redistricting Foundation, asking the court to block Desantis’ special legislative session on redistricting next month.
New York
Siding with New York Republicans, the Supreme Court ruled this week that the only GOP-dominated district in New York City does not need to be redrawn.
Virginia
On Wednesday, for a second time, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled that a referendum on a democratic-led redistricting push can move forward. Early voting is set to start on Friday.
The court has still not ruled on whether the redistricting proposal and the referendum is legal, but it has allowed the referendum to move forward while the legal challenge continues to play out.
In Other Election News
ProPublica: Trump Officials Attended a Summit of Election Deniers Who Want the President to Take Over the Midterms
Washington Post: Confusion at Dallas polls causes Democratic voters to be turned away
Democracy Docket: Exclusive: Trump DOJ targeting overseas voters over registration info
