ICE reviewed tens of millions of voter records looking for noncitizen voters, records show

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images/File

The Department of Homeland Security’s sweeping election-fraud operation has drawn on tens of millions of records, scrutinized dozens of nonprofit voter-registration groups and considered deploying undercover agents to investigate organizations suspected of helping noncitizens register to vote, according to newly obtained internal documents.

The records , released on Wednesday by the advocacy group Democracy Forward, offer a detailed look inside one arm of the Trump administration’s escalating election-integrity campaign, which has marshaled federal investigators, immigration databases and voter records in an effort to identify noncitizens suspected of illegally registering or voting.

Homeland Security Investigations, the investigative division of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, described the undertaking as a phased national initiative involving voter-roll acquisition, data analysis, investigative leads and field investigations.

The operation drew on extraordinarily large pools of data. A June 1 HSI report said investigators had ingested 50.6 million records from a Justice Department dataset and another 48.4 million records that Heather Honey , a senior counselor to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, had obtained through what the report called “independent sources of information.” The document does not identify those independent sources or make clear whether the two datasets contained unique individuals. HSI said the data was being further analyzed to identify investigative targets.

The records underscore Honey’s role in an initiative that stretched across the federal government. Her previous work challenging the integrity of the 2020 election has been embraced by Trump and his allies. Internally, DHS personnel sought to add officials working under Honey to distribution of HSI’s weekly voter-fraud reports, while another report explicitly attributed the 48.4 million-record dataset to her.

“It appears the president and his allies want to pick their voters, as opposed to the way things are supposed to function in a democracy where voters pick their leaders,” Democracy Forward President and CEO Skye Perryman said in a statement.

CNN has reached out to DHS for comment.

The documents also show that investigators were looking well beyond individual suspected voters. An internal comparison said HSI was adopting a “network-based investigative approach, prioritizing organization and facilitation analysis over individual leads.” Investigators reviewed dozens of nonprofits and voter-registration organizations in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and other states and examined organizations linked to an Ohio company suspected by investigators of voter-registration fraud.

But several of those reviews turned up no evidence of wrongdoing. Investigators said they found no derogatory information on dozens of New Jersey groups they examined, found no suspicious financial activity in another nonprofit review and closed a separate Ohio inquiry after exhausting its investigative leads.

However, records previously reviewed by CNN showed that in Franklin County, Ohio, an HSI agent pressed election officials for information on several groups, including the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, a progressive voter-turnout organization that federal agents raided in June — four months after the exchange.

Still, HSI contemplated more aggressive investigative tactics. A June report said officials were exploring whether to use undercover agents to engage with organizations suspected of encouraging or facilitating illegal voter registration by noncitizens. New Jersey and Pennsylvania were identified as areas of focus. The document said undercover agents could be used to gather evidence and trace financial backing if investigators determined an organization was actively recruiting noncitizens to register.

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images/文件

根据最新获得的内部文件显示，国土安全部开展了声势浩大的选举舞弊行动，动用了数千万条记录，审查了数十个非营利选民登记组织，并考虑部署卧底特工调查涉嫌帮助非公民登记投票的组织。

这些记录由倡导组织“民主向前”（Democracy Forward）于周三公布，详细展现了特朗普政府不断升级的选举诚信运动的一个分支，该运动调动了联邦调查人员、移民数据库和选民记录，以识别涉嫌非法登记或投票的非公民。

美国移民和海关执法局的调查部门——国土安全调查局将这项工作描述为一项分阶段的全国性计划，涉及选民名册的获取、数据分析、调查线索和实地调查。

此次行动动用了极其庞大的数据资源。美国国土安全调查局（HSI）6月1日发布的一份报告称，调查人员从司法部数据集中提取了5060万条记录，并从国土安全部长马克韦恩·穆林的高级顾问希瑟·霍尼通过报告所称的“独立信息来源”获得了另外4840万条记录。该文件并未指明这些独立信息来源，也未明确说明这两个数据集是否包含不同的个人信息。HSI表示，他们正在对这些数据进行进一步分析，以确定调查目标。

这些记录凸显了霍尼在联邦政府一项大规模行动中所扮演的角色。她此前对2020年大选公正性的质疑得到了特朗普及其盟友的支持。在国土安全部内部，有人试图将霍尼手下的官员纳入国土安全调查局每周选民欺诈报告的分发范围，而另一份报告则明确指出，这份包含4840万条记录的数据集出自她之手。

“总统及其盟友似乎想要挑选他们的选民，这与民主制度下选民挑选领导人的运作方式截然不同，”民主前进组织总裁兼首席执行官斯凯·佩里曼在一份声明中表示。

CNN已联系国土安全部寻求置评。

文件还显示，调查人员的调查范围远不止于个别涉嫌选民。一份内部对比报告指出，国土安全调查局（HSI）采取了“基于网络的调查方法，优先分析组织和协助机制，而非个别线索”。调查人员审查了宾夕法尼亚州、新泽西州和其他州的数十家非营利组织和选民登记机构，并调查了与一家涉嫌选民登记欺诈的俄亥俄州公司有关联的组织。

但其中几项审查并未发现任何不当行为的证据。调查人员表示，他们在审查的数十个新泽西州团体中没有发现任何贬损信息，在另一项非营利组织审查中也没有发现任何可疑的财务活动，并在穷尽所有调查线索后结束了对俄亥俄州的单独调查。

然而，CNN 此前查阅的记录显示，在俄亥俄州富兰克林县，一名国土安全调查局 (HSI) 特工向选举官员施压，要求提供有关几个团体的信息，其中包括俄亥俄州组织合作组织 (Ohio Organizing Collaborative)，这是一个进步的选民投票率组织，联邦特工在 6 月份突袭了该组织——而就在四个月前，双方进行了交流。

尽管如此，国土安全调查局（HSI）仍在考虑采取更积极的调查策略。一份六月份的报告指出，官员们正在研究是否派遣卧底特工与涉嫌鼓励或协助非公民非法登记选民的组织接触。新泽西州和宾夕法尼亚州被列为重点调查区域。该文件称，如果调查人员认定某个组织正在积极招募非公民进行选民登记，则可以利用卧底特工收集证据并追踪其资金来源。