The FBI raided the Cleveland office of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative on Thursday, a grassroots organization focused on voter registration work. Agents seized computers and phones during the operation and also visited homes of people affiliated with the group across the state to conduct interviews.
Prentiss Haney, a board member of the organization, confirmed the raid took place. He said the agents appeared to be examining accusations related to the 2024 election, though the specific details of the investigation remained unclear. Haney characterized the search as part of what he views as a broader crackdown.
"This raid is a full-on coordinated assault weaponizing the justice department and DHS against people who are fighting for working-class voters and Black voters to make sure they have access to the ballot," Haney said.
The Cleveland FBI office did not respond to a request for comment about the search.
The timing and nature of the raid prompted swift criticism from Democratic officials and civil rights organizations. Ohio Representative Shontel Brown called it an unprecedented attack on democracy. She alleged the raids appear connected to what she described as a systematic effort to attack elections and promote unsubstantiated voter fraud claims.
Former Senator Sherrod Brown, who is running for office again this year, said reports of the raid were deeply disturbing. Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb stated that if authorities have a legitimate basis for their actions, they should disclose it to the public.
Michael Waldman, president of the Brennan Center for Justice, characterized the action as an outrageous fishing expedition designed to intimidate people working for democracy. He said it represents an egregious misuse of law enforcement for political purposes and fits a pattern of federal inquiries targeting voting infrastructure ahead of the midterm elections.
The raid comes roughly one month after a top official in the office of the acting attorney general instructed prosecutors to prioritize voter fraud cases. Last fall, Ohio's Republican elections official referred over 1,000 individuals who appeared to be non-citizens registered in the state to the Justice Department. Federal investigators have also collected voter records across at least six Ohio counties.
Trump won Ohio's popular vote in 2024, securing 17 electoral votes for the state. Republican Bernie Moreno defeated long-serving Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown in an expensive race that helped Republicans gain control of the Senate.
Trump has repeatedly and falsely claimed that widespread voter fraud exists, recently focusing on California's vote-counting process. He has offered no evidence to support these claims, though his rhetoric has raised concerns about potential challenges to Republican losses in future elections.