Press Releases
Johnson, Jordan Urge Ag Barr to Investigate Election Related Crimes in the 2020 Election
Washington, DC,
October 1, 2020
Tags:
Rule of Law
U.S. Representatives Mike Johnson (LA-04), Ranking Member of House Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, and Jim Jordan (OH-04), Ranking Member of House Judiciary Committee, today sent a letter to Attorney General William Barr asking that the Department of Justice (DOJ) investigate possible election-related crimes that have already been reported in the 2020 election. The letter points out three instances where either crimes or administrative errors have occurred. You can scroll below to read the text of the letter or click here. “Our warnings about the Democrats’ push for mass mail-in voting have proven to be accurate,” said Johnson. “With questionable activities already occurring, the 2020 election is now virtually assured to be a disaster. It could take weeks or even months to find out who actually won the presidency, but even worse, we risk losing the American peoples’ faith in our democratic process. Ensuring that our government is ready to quickly investigate and prosecute those responsible for election-related crimes is critical to preserve the integrity of our republic and its institutions.” “Democrats are trying to win this election after the election. Their last-minute efforts to change voting laws and established election procedures will create chaos, confusion, and delay. We’ve already seen Democrats create problems in New York, New Jersey, and elsewhere. The Department of Justice must be ready to fight election crimes so that our elections remain free and fair,” said Jordan. ### October 1, 2020 The Honorable William P. Barr Dear Attorney General Barr, We write to raise our sincere concerns about reports of potentially illegal activity concerning mail-in voting during the 2020 election and respectfully ask that the Department of Justice (DOJ) take immediate action to investigate these reports and, if appropriate, prosecute election-related crimes to the fullest extent of the law. As you know, the DOJ is tasked with preserving our most fundamental rights as Americans, including the ability to participate in the democratic process by voting for our representatives in free and fair elections. At the core of this important function is maintaining the public’s trust that all elections are conducted legitimately and transparently. History shows us that in-person voting is by far the most effective way to ensure election integrity and that the mail-in process is inherently susceptible to election crime and administrative error because it separates a voter from his or her ballot. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has been used to justify a monumental shift toward mail-in voting and ballot harvesting, which has largely been decried by Republicans in Congress, including at a House Judiciary Committee hearing on this subject on June 3, 2020. Tragically, election-related crimes, which were the basis for our concerns, appear to be prevalent throughout the country. In Fairfax County, Virginia, up to 1,000 voters recently received more than one ballot in the mail for this year’s election. Hillary Clinton won Fairfax County in the 2016 presidential election by nearly 36 points. In Minneapolis, Minnesota, videos have surfaced that indicate widespread illegal ballot harvesting is taking place to benefit Democratic candidates for office, including sitting U.S. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. In Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, it was recently reported that absentee ballots provided to Americans living abroad, including military servicemembers, were discarded—nearly all of those voters cast their ballot in support of President Trump’s reelection effort. At minimum, these incidents, all of which have come to light within the past week, seriously undermine the public’s faith in this year’s election. At worst, they hint at a coordinated and subversive effort to capitalize on the current pandemic to improperly and perhaps illegally sway the results of the election. In either case, we respectfully urge you to utilize the authorities at your disposal to investigate and, if appropriate, prosecute illegal activity in the aforementioned instances and all other instances that are sure to arise between now and November 3, 2020. Thank you for your attention to this matter and for your service to our nation. Sincerely, Mike Johnson Jim Jordan |