{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.padilla.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/watch-padilla-presses-patel-on-election-interference-secures-commitment-fbi-will-not-seize-ballots-or-voting-machines-ahead-of-midterms/", "WATCH: Padilla Presses Patel on Election Interference, Secures Commitment FBI Will Not Seize Ballots or Voting Machines Ahead of Midterms", "2026-09-15", "2026", "2026-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "CA", "Alex Padilla", "P000145", "www.padilla.senate.gov", "padilla", "https://www.padilla.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/", "scraper", "Padilla also raised AI security, immigration enforcement concerns\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, pressed Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel on the Trump Administration\u2019s efforts to involve federal law enforcement in elections and secured a commitment that the FBI will not seize ballots, voting machines, or other election materials in connection with the 2026 midterm elections before they have concluded.\n\nDuring the oversight hearing, Padilla raised concerns about the FBI\u2019s unjustified raids on Fulton County, Georgia earlier this year to seize ballots from the 2020 presidential election that Donald Trump lost. He also cited the subsequent \u201ccopycat move\u201d by a county sheriff to seize 650,000 ballots in Riverside County, California following the Prop 54 congressional redistricting referendum in 2025.\n\nAdditionally, Padilla highlighted Patel\u2019s failure to provide any answers to written questions from last year\u2019s congressional oversight hearing \u2014 severely undermining Patel\u2019s claims of transparency and accountability. Padilla also raised concerns about Artificial Intelligence (AI) cyberattacks, and the FBI\u2019s role in investigating the violent use of force by ICE and CBP officers and agents.\n\nPADILLA PRESSES PATEL ON FBI ELECTION INVOLVEMENT\n\nFirst, Padilla asked Patel to reaffirm the Department of Justice\u2019s longstanding election noninterference policy to not take overt criminal investigative measures involving any alleged ballot fraud until an election has concluded, results have been certified, and recounts and election contests have been resolved. Padilla also asked if the FBI Director could make the same commitment that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, recently made that he has \u201cno plans to use such personnel to seize ballots, voting machines, or other election related material.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy question to you is, can you make the same commitment?\u201d Padilla asked Patel.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d Patel responded.\n\nPADILLA DEMANDS ACCOUNTABILITY\n\nPadilla then pressed Patel on his failure to submit responses to written questions to the record from last year\u2019s congressional oversight hearing.\n\nPADILLA: \u201cA year ago, this committee convened to exercise its oversight responsibility, like we are doing here today, to get answers to critical questions about the FBI\u2019s activities under your leadership. I know other colleagues have reminded you of some of the pledges and statements you made that day: that you\u2019re committed to full transparency, to oversight and accountability, to restore the public\u2019s trust in the FBI. You made that promise again here today\u2026 it has been almost a year, and we still have not gotten responses, no answers, to our questions for the record that were submitted last year.\u201d\n\n[\u2026]\n\n\u201cWhen can we expect answers to this year\u2019s questions? By the end of October?\u201d\n\nPATEL: As fast as we can.\n\nPADILLA: If last year is any indicator, that\u2019s clearly not fast enough and not consistent with your pledge of transparency and accountability and responsiveness.\n\nPATEL: If I may, the end of October is pretty reasonable. We can abide by that.\n\nPADILLA PROBES PATEL ON AI CYBERSECURITY\n\nPadilla then pressed Patel on the FBI\u2019s response to reports of cyberattacks involving rogue AI agents, such as the recent Hugging Face hack. Padilla inquired who would be held accountable for attacks by autonomous agents and what safeguards the FBI has instituted to prevent rogue AI agent attacks within the FBI\u2019s system.\n\nPADILLA: First, the prospect of rogue AI agents is obviously top of mind because of the autonomous agents hacking into Hugging Face. I imagine it is also top of mind for you, given that Hugging Face apparently reported the cyberattack to the FBI. Is that correct?\n\nPATEL: Partially. The rest of that, we can talk about in a classified setting.\n\n[\u2026]\n\nPADILLA: As a follow-up, a specific policy and technical question \u2013 because it seems like we are in a new frontier here. What protocols or procedures are different, if any, given that these are autonomous, nonhuman actors that have been accused of committing these crimes?\n\nPATEL: The difference is someone created them. For us, the approach is the same. We look at it as an electronic entity. Someone made them for this specific deployment, and just like any other program we have, if it\u2019s for a good, lawful use, we\u2019re fine. If it\u2019s for an ill-intended, unlawful use, we go after the entity or the people that created that system if they intentionally deployed it to cause that result.\n\nPADILLA: So to be clear, for the people watching at home, who was it then that you are investigating or will hold accountable if the information you come across warrants indictments, charges, etc.?\n\nPATEL: Companies, personnel. Whoever is responsible.\n\n[\u2026]\n\nPADILLA: Out of curiosity \u2013 AI is being utilized in the course of the FBI\u2019s work, investigations and otherwise. What safeguards have you put into place to monitor, prevent, or respond to AI agents going rogue within the FBI systems?\n\nPATEL: There is a ton. We don\u2019t just bring in AI and let it run loose. We take it in as a test use, case-by-case basis, and then test it on a specific set of data, either at a headquarters component or one specific field office, then we get feedback on whether or not that AI capabilities and large language models abided by our policy and DOJ mandates and the law.\n\nPADILLA PRESSES PATEL ON FBI INVESTIGATIONS OF IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT SHOOTINGS\n\nPadilla further confronted Patel about reports that the FBI would no longer investigate shootings involving ICE and CBP officers and agents, and specifically asked about investigations into the killings of Joan Sebastian Guerrero and Lorenzo Salgado Araujo.\n\nWhile Patel stated that the FBI participates in investigations of excessive use of force in immigration enforcement actions, he admitted they do not always take the lead and did not provide any updates on the status of such investigations, stating he would have to consult with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Padilla called for more independence in these investigations to ensure transparency.\n\nPADILLA: Reports indicate, in July, field offices received guidance to stop investigating confrontations with immigration enforcement officials or agents involved with immigration enforcement. Yes or no, did you or your leadership team instruct field offices to stop investigating excessive use of force by ICE or CBP?\n\nPATEL: No.\n\nPADILLA: Can you reiterate for me, for the community, for the public, what is the current guidance to field offices as it pertains to these types of investigations?\n\nPATEL: Every single investigation is different, depending on the location, on who the officer is. We have to bring in the lead home agency if it\u2019s one of theirs, one of ours.\n\nPADILLA: But every incident is investigated?\n\nPATEL: To my knowledge, every incident is investigated through the interagency process.\n\nPADILLA: With FBI participation in those investigations?\n\nPATEL: Yes, and we\u2019re always called in. We\u2019re always asked to participate because we have some technical capabilities that other agencies don\u2019t.\n\n[\u2026]\n\nPADILLA: You should be the lead on these investigations. The independence of these investigations is critical for true accountability.\n\n[\u2026]\n\nPADILLA: Can you comment on the status of investigations on the shootings of Joan Sebastian Guerrero, or Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, or any of the 23 shootings involving ICE or CBP?\n\nPATEL: I would have to get back to you on those because again I\u2019d have to go talk to my DHS partners.\n\nVideo of Padilla\u2019s full questioning is available here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-09-16T09:43:13Z", "2026-09-16T09:44:22Z"]], "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://www.padilla.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/watch-padilla-presses-patel-on-election-interference-secures-commitment-fbi-will-not-seize-ballots-or-voting-machines-ahead-of-midterms/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.5338460691273212, "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"}