DNC sues Trump admin over allegedly unanswered FOIA requests about agents at polls in November

The Democratic National Committee filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the Trump administration for allegedly failing to answer 11 Freedom of Information Act requests about federal agents being stationed at polls in November.The DNC filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the Departments of Defense, Justice, and Homeland Security, alleging that they violated FOIA by missing statutory response deadlines, The Epoch Times reported.
“The DNC will stand on the side of voters and use every tool in our arsenal to stop voter suppression and intimidation before it can even begin,” DNC Chair Ken Martin said Tuesday.
Daniel J. Freeman, the DNC’s litigation director, filed 11 FOIA requests in October 2025, according to the lawsuit and copies of the requests. The DNC sought all records from Jan. 20, 2025, onward regarding the deployment, posting, or positioning of federal law enforcement and military personnel near polling places, ballot drop boxes, and election offices during early voting, on Election Day, and through certification.
The requests included the FBI; the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, Criminal Division, and Office of Information Policy; Customs and Border Protection; the Federal Protective Service; Immigration and Customs Enforcement; DHS headquarters; the National Guard Bureau; the U.S. Northern Command; and DOD headquarters.
The DNC alleged in the lawsuit that nearly five months passed without the party receiving a substantive response from any of the 11 agencies.
The FOIA requests were filed amid a series of statements that the DNC said raised concerns about federal interference in the 2026 midterm elections.
President Trump told The New York Times in January that he regretted not ordering the National Guard to seize voting machines in swing states after the 2020 presidential election.
“Well, I should have,” Trump said.
The lawsuit also cites White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s comments last month when she was asked at a press briefing whether Trump was considering having ICE agents at polling places in November.
“I can’t guarantee that an ICE agent won’t be around,” Leavitt said. “[I] have not heard the president discuss any formal plans.”
The DNC lawsuit also alleged that the DOJ Civil Rights Division’s Election Day monitoring program last year in California and New Jersey departed from historical norms by going to locations selected by state Republican parties and deploying a senior political appointee to polling places in heavily Latino communities.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said at the time that the monitoring was part of an effort to increase transparency at the polls, and thus, faith in the electoral process.
The DNC’s lawsuit also cites federal law that prohibits stationing armed forces at polling places to keep the peace.
The lawsuit alleged that the National Guard Bureau did not acknowledge the DNC’s FOIA request; the DOD’s Office of the Secretary told the party last month that a document search was underway, and estimated completion in six months; and the FBI invoked a 10-day statutory extension in November, then didn’t respond.
The DNC said it plans to use any records from the FOIA requests to prepare legal and voter-education responses before November.
The DOD, DHS, and DOJ did not respond to requests for comment from The Epoch Times.

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