{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://price.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/rep-price-joins-leading-democrats-call-investigation-trump-administration", "Rep. Price Joins Leading Democrats To Call for Investigation into Trump Administration Subpoenas of North Carolina Voter Information", "2018-09-07", "2018", "2018-09", "Democrat", "House", "NC", "David Price", "P000523", "price.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, DC In aletter today, top Democrats voiced strong concerns about the scope of recent Trump Administration subpoenas demanding millions of North Carolina voter records and called for an investigation into the legality and political motivation behind this unprecedented request for private voter information.\nThe letter, from Committee on House Administration Ranking MemberRobert A. Brady (D-Pa.),Oversight and Government Reform Committee Ranking MemberElijah E. Cummings (D-Md.),Homeland Security Committee Ranking MemberBennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.),Judiciary Committee Ranking MemberJerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.),and North Carolina RepresentativesDavid E. Price (D-N.C.), G. K. Butterfield (D-N.C.)andAlma S. Adams, Ph.D. (D-N.C),asks the Inspectors General of the Department of Justice and the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agency to promptly undertake an investigation to determine the legal implications of and rationale for these subpoenas.\nThese subpoenas are overly broad, request private voter information, and appear to target voters of color, the members write. Accordingly, we respectfully request that you undertake an investigation to examine the circumstances by which these subpoenas were issued, the scope of the subpoenas, and the seemingly political motivations behind them.\nThe members note that President Trump has continually repeated false claims regarding widespread voter fraud in the 2016 election, leading to the creation of his Advisory Commission on Election Integrity that was disbanded in January after being the subject of endless controversy and litigation. Despite this, President Trump subsequently charged the Department of Homeland Security to continue investigating the myth of widespread voter fraud. This document request by ICE appears to pick up where the Commission left off and seeks to use allegations of widespread voter fraud to justify voter suppression and intimation practices.\nThe letter concludes: Given what we know about the scope of the subpoenas, and the counties that were targeted, we strongly suspect that this is part of the Trump administration's dangerous and anti-democratic strategy of voter suppression and intimidation to limit equal access to the ballot box.\nSpecifically, the members request the Inspectors General begin an investigation that considers the following questions:\n What motivated the request for these documents?\n\tHow was this particular set of records chosen for the subpoena?\n\tWas there any consideration of whether the request was overly broad?\n\tDo the subpoenas violate constitutional guarantees of equal protection and due process or any other constitutional provision?\n\tDo the subpoenas violate the National Voter Registration Act of 1993?\n\tDo the subpoenas violate North Carolina law?\n\tWhy was the deadline initially set for September 25, 2018, less than two months before an election?\n\tWhy was the deadline moved to after the November election?\n\tDoes this action have any precedent? Is DHS planning to make similar requests in other states?\n\tIs DHS following President Trump's directive to investigate widespread voter fraud?\n\tAre these subpoenas related to the DHS' work following the President's directive to investigate widespread voter fraud?\n\tIs ICE planning to use voter data to initiate deportation proceedings?\n\tDid DOJ and DHS follow all relevant laws and guidance, including the U.S. Attorneys' Manual, in issuing the subpoenas, and was there a less intrusive method that the agencies rejected?\n\tWas there a reasonable evidential basis for the scope of the subpoenas?\n\tIf the agencies obtain the requested records, do they have appropriate plans to limit the use of these records to the state purpose of the grand jury subpoenas and ensure their secure storage?\n \nThe full text of the letter can be found online here and below:\n\n\n\nSeptember 7, 2018\n\n\nMichael E. Horowitz John V. Kelly\nDepartment of Justice Department of Homeland Security\nOffice of the Inspector General Office of the Inspector General\n950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 4706 245 Murray Lane SW\nWashington, D.C. 20528-0305 Washington, D.C. 20530-0001 \n\nDear Inspector General Horowitz and Deputy Inspector General Kelly:\nWe write to express our grave concerns about the scope of recent Department of Justice (DOJ) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) subpoenas issued for voting records and sensitive private information in the Eastern District of North Carolina.\nThese subpoenas request an estimated 15 million documents concerning North Carolina voters, including voter registration applications, absentee ballot requests, and admission or denial of non-citizen return forms.[1] More than two million of these documents are ballots that could be traced back to the individuals who cast them.[2]\nThese subpoenas are overly broad, request private voter information, and appear to target voters of color.Accordingly, we respectfully request that you undertake an investigation to examine the circumstances by which these subpoenas were issued, the scope of the subpoenas, and the seemingly political motivations behind them.\nPresident Trump has continually repeated false claims regarding widespread voter fraud in the 2016 election, and subsequently created a so-called Advisory Commission on Election Integrity that sought to obtain millions of pieces of private voter information. The Commission was disbanded in January after endless controversy and litigation, but President Trump then charged the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to continue to investigate the myth of widespread voter fraud.[3] This new North Carolina document request by ICE appears to pick up where the Commission left off and seeks to use allegations of widespread voter fraud to justify voter suppression and intimidation practices.\nIt is no surprise that the subpoenas target North Carolina's voter rolls, as the state has a history of voter suppression. In 2016, a federal appeals court struck down North Carolina's voter identification law, finding that the law target[ed] African-Americans with almost surgical precision in order to lower turnout among African-Americans.[4] Despite this decisive ruling, Republicans in North Carolina are continuing to push a constitutional amendment that would require photo identification at the polls.[5]\nAt a time when DOJ should be investigating voter suppression, it appears that the Department is instead supporting it. In the subpoenas issued here, there is again an obvious targeting of minority voters. The 44 counties that received subpoenas account for approximately 46% of the state's registered black voters, 39% of the state's registered Hispanic voters, and 36% of the state's registered white voters.[6] This appears to be an effort designed to disproportionately target minority voters and depress voter turnout. At a minimum, this apparent disproportionate targeting of minority voters may raise potential equal protection and due process concerns.\nThe subpoenas may have additional legal implications. Under the National Voter Registration Act, each state must ensure that the identity of the voter registration agency through which any particular voter is registered is not disclosed to the public.[7] Presumably, the massive data set requested by DOJ would reveal the agency where a voter was registered. Moreover, the request for absentee ballots, which are potentially traceable to the specific voter who cast the ballot, is a violation of every voter's right to cast a secret ballot.\nThough DOJ has delayed the production deadline until after the November election, the subpoenas still raise many questions about their legality and true motivations. We write to request that you begin an investigation that considers the following questions:\n What motivated the request for these documents?\n\tHow was this particular set of records chosen for the subpoena?\n\tWas there any consideration of whether the request was overly broad?\n\tDo the subpoenas violate constitutional guarantees of equal protection and due process or any other constitutional provision?\n\tDo the subpoenas violate the National Voter Registration Act of 1993?\n\tDo the subpoenas violate North Carolina law?\n\tWhy was the deadline initially set for September 25, 2018, less than two months before an election?\n\tWhy was the deadline moved to after the November election?\n\tDoes this action have any precedent? Is DHS planning to make similar requests in other states?\n\tIs DHS following President Trump's directive to investigate widespread voter fraud?\n\tAre these subpoenas related to the DHS' work following the President's directive to investigate widespread voter fraud?\n\tIs ICE planning to use voter data to initiate deportation proceedings?\n\tDid DOJ and DHS follow all relevant laws and guidance, including the U.S. Attorneys' Manual, in issuing the subpoenas, and was there a less intrusive method that the agencies rejected?\n\tWas there a reasonable evidential basis for the scope of the subpoenas?\n\tIf the agencies obtain the requested records, do they have appropriate plans to limit the use of these records to the stated purpose of the grand jury subpoenas and ensure their secure storage?\n Given what we know about the scope of the subpoenas, and the counties that were targeted, we are concerned that this could be part of the Trump Administration's dangerous and anti-democratic strategy of voter suppression and intimidation to limit equal access to the ballot box.\nWe hope that you will promptly launch an investigation to determine the legal implications of and rationale for these subpoenas.\nThank you for your consideration.\nSincerely,\n\n\n\n\n____________________________ ____________________________\nRobert A. Brady Elijah Cummings\nRanking Member Ranking Member\nCommittee on House Administration Committee on Oversight and Government Reform\n\n\n\n\n____________________________ ____________________________\nBennie Thompson Jerrold Nadler\nRanking Member Ranking Member\nCommittee on Homeland Security Committee on the Judiciary\n\n\n\n\n____________________________ ____________________________\nDavid E. Price G. K. Butterfield\nMember of Congress Member of Congress\n\n\n\n____________________________\nAlma S. Adams, Ph.D.\nMember of Congress\n\n# # #\n\n\n\n\t  \n\t\t[1]Travis Fain,Federal Subpoenas Demand Tsunami' of NC Voter Records,WRAL.com (Sept. 6, 2018) https://www.wral.com/federal-subpoenas-demand-tsunami-of-nc-voter-records/17821061/\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t[3]Michael Tackett and Michael Wines, Trump Disbands Commission on Voter Fraud, The New York Times (Jan. 3, 2018) https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/03/us/politics/trump-voter-fraud-commission.html\n\t\n\t\n\t\t[4]Michael Wines and Alan Blinder,Federal Appeals Court Strikes Down North Carolina Voter ID Requirement, The New York Times (Jul. 29, 2016) https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/30/us/federal-appeals-court-strikes-down-north-carolina-voter-id-provision.html\n\t\n\t\n\t\t[5]Dave Hendrickson,Here's a Look at North Carolina's Proposed Constitutional Amendments, WRAL.com (Aug. 29, 2018) https://www.wral.com/here-s-a-look-at-north-carolina-s-proposed-constitutional-amendments/17715772/\n\t\n\t\n\t\t[6]North Carolina State Board of Elections & Ethics Enforcement. (2018).Voter Registration Statistics. [Data file]. Retrieved from https://vt.ncsbe.gov/RegStat/Results/?date=08%2F25%2F2018.\n\t\n\t\n\t\t[7]52 U.S.C.  20507(a)(6)", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://price.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/rep-price-joins-leading-democrats-call-investigation-trump-administration"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8768001571297646, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}