U.S. Rep. Shontel Brown and other Cleveland Democrats called out the FBI on Wednesday after the bureau searched an office and questioned staff of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, a progressive group known for voter registration drives and ballot issue campaigns.
Investigation Raises Concerns
Brown’s staff prefaced the news conference at the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections with a caveat: The speakers wouldn’t address the merits of the case, whatever those might be. The Trump administration hasn’t said why it is interested in the group. Brown said the investigation “looks like intimidation” and the government owed the public answers.
Without case details to discuss, Brown, public officials, pastors, and others mounted a defense of people’s right to cast ballots and sign others up to vote. “Voter registration is not a crime,” Brown said. “It is not a crime.”
Background on the Probe
Some clues about the probe have emerged. Last year, investigators asked Cuyahoga elections officials about Black Fork Strategies, a canvassing firm linked to an Ohio Organizing Collaborative board member. Several county election boards — including Cuyahoga County’s — had raised questions about voter applications submitted by Black Fork.
Brown and the other Democrats in Ohio’s congressional delegation sent a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel warning that the investigation could have a chilling effect on civic participation — in an election year, no less. The letter demanded a copy of the FBI’s search warrant and asked several questions about the probe, including how many agents are working on it.
Brown reprised her message the next day at a rally in the Glenville neighborhood, where more than 100 people gathered in the parking lot outside Bethany Baptist Church. There, she said she would keep the pressure on the White House. “I am going to take the fight to this administration in Congress,” she said, “because I will not let Donald Trump and Kash Patel steal your right to vote.”
Original reporting: Signal Cleveland — read the source article.
