Mullin’s Trumped-Up Voter Fraud Claims

We’re suing DHS and investigating the FBI’s handling of the Susan Collins corruption probe. Plus, Jack Smith’s Senate testimony and a bill that threatens inspectors general.

Inquiriespress@americanoversight.org

This week, we sued the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for records on Sec. Markwayne Mullin’s sweeping non-citizen voter fraud claims.

On July 17, Mullin claimed that his department identified 250,000 noncitizens registered to vote in California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Nevada. We submitted two Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for evidence to support this claim, but did not receive a response. Now we’re going to court to demand answers, because the public needs to know if Mullin is using his office to manufacture a pretext for interfering in our elections.

In Nevada, Mullin’s claim has reportedly already fallen apart. After he said as many as 15,903 noncitizens were registered to vote there, Secretary of State Frisco Aguilar demanded proof of Mullin’s claim. The administration then walked back its initial number. DHS officials sent the state a much smaller list of 185 names it said it had confirmed were not U.S. citizens. On September 22, Nevada told DHS that every one of those 185 voters was a citizen.

“If DHS has evidence to back up its claims, it should show the American people the receipts,” our Executive Director Chioma Chukwu said. “Until then, we’ll keep fighting for the facts and against any attempt to use baseless accusations to infringe on Americans’ fundamental right to vote.”

The public still need answers from Jack Smith’s Trump investigations

On Wednesday, former Special Counsel Jack Smith testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee about his investigations into President Donald Trump. But a critical part of what his team uncovered remains hidden from the American people.

Volume I of Smith’s report, on Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, was released in January 2025. Volume II, on Trump’s handling of highly classified documents, remains blocked from public release by a judge in Florida.

The public needs to see the second report, and we are fighting to get it released.

We already know that Trump allegedly took records tied to his business interests and others so highly classified that they were shared with only six individuals. And every new detail that comes to light about the report underscores the same basic truth: The public is being denied access to critical information about one of the most serious national security breaches in American history.

American Oversight has been at the forefront of efforts to secure the release of this report by suing, along with the Knight First Amendment Institute, and we won’t give up. Oral arguments are now scheduled for next month before the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

How the bill to abolish CIGIE would seriously weaken government accountability

This summer, the House Oversight Committee advanced a bill that would abolish the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) and hand oversight of federal inspectors general to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

That’s a major threat to government accountability.

CIGIE supports the work of more than 70 Offices of Inspectors General (OIG), the nonpartisan watchdogs responsible for rooting out waste, fraud, abuse, and misconduct in the executive branch. CIGIE provides OIGs with training, coordinates their work across agencies, establishes quality standards, and manages peer reviews and websites like oversight.gov. CIGIE also coordinates specialized training for attorneys, auditors, evaluators, and investigators, including law enforcement officers.

Abolishing CIGIE and moving its responsibilities to OMB creates two serious issues. First, OMB does not have the expertise to do CIGIE’s work. Second, it would make it easier for OMB to interfere with the independence of inspectors general, since the agency is within the White House. Given President Trump’s track record of attacking and dismantling independent oversight mechanisms, that is a significant risk.

We wrote about what CIGIE does, the expertise its work requires, and why we cannot afford to lose it.

On the records

Investigating the FBI’s closure of its corruption probe into Sen. Collins

Last week, ProPublica reported on a public corruption investigation connected to Sen. Susan Collins. The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) reportedly shelved the inquiry and fired the investigators after Trump returned to office. We’re investigating how the FBI handled — and ultimately ended — the probe.

We filed FOIA requests for Patel’s and senior FBI officials’ communications about the inquiry into Collins. With President Trump calling the shots and FBI Director Kash Patel carrying out his orders, the public deserves to know whether the FBI is investigating corruption or shielding those responsible.

American Oversight in the news

Watchdog group sues DHS for records to back claims that 250,000 noncitizens are registered to vote (The Hill)
A leading anti-abortion zealot just quit the FBI (Mother Jones)
Report: Trump wanted all mail ballots sent by certified mail (Democracy Docket)
Major arguments to reverse Judge Cannon’s permanent burial of Mar-a-Lago report on Trump may happen sooner than anticipated (Yahoo News)