FBI agents executed a search warrant Thursday at the Cleveland office of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, a grassroots group focused on voter registration and criminal justice reform, seizing documents and computer files, a board member confirmed Friday. The raid is the latest in a series of actions by the Trump administration targeting voting and election operations in battleground states, and it comes as Ohio prepares for hotly contested races for governor and U.S.
Senate this fall.
Prentiss Haney, a board member of the organization, said federal agents spent hours questioning staff and also visited the homes of individuals who have worked with the group, seeking interviews and information about alleged voter fraud. Haney accused the agents of using "intimidation tactics and harassment" and expressed concern that the investigation is designed to sow doubt in the upcoming elections.
The focus of the probe remains unclear, but a person familiar with the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity, said investigators are examining potential fraud violations. The Justice Department declined to comment, and an FBI spokesperson in Cleveland did not respond to requests for comment.
To obtain a search warrant, federal authorities must convince a judge that probable cause of criminal activity exists. Democrats expressed skepticism about the basis of the search, citing persistent concerns of a politicized FBI and Justice Department.
Dr. Amy Acton, the Democratic nominee for governor, called the raid unacceptable, stating, "Any attempts by federal law enforcement to intimidate eligible Ohioans from registering to vote are unacceptable." Democrat Sherrod Brown, who is challenging Republican Sen.
Jon Husted, demanded the FBI make public all activities related to the raids, adding, "Any attempt to intimidate Ohio voters is wrong, and will not work."
Republicans have held Ohio's top elected seat for 20 years and both U.S. Senate seats, but they are concerned that Democratic momentum in this year's midterms could make them vulnerable.
The Justice Department under President Donald Trump's second term has launched several legal actions or investigations related to voting or state election operations. The FBI has previously seized ballots and other records from the 2020 election in Georgia's Fulton County and Arizona's Maricopa County, and from the 2024 election in Michigan's Wayne County.
It has also questioned election workers in Wisconsin's Milwaukee County. All four are presidential battleground states.
The Justice Department has sued at least 30 states and the District of Columbia after they refused to hand over detailed voter data, including dates of birth and partial Social Security numbers. The department says it wants the information to run through a Department of Homeland Security program that checks U.S.
citizenship, though the program's accuracy has been questioned. The Justice Department has so far been on a losing streak in its lawsuits seeking to extract the data from holdout states.
Early in his second term, Trump also ordered the Justice Department to investigate ActBlue, the top fundraising platform for the Democratic Party. Allegations of fraud in voter registration efforts are typically investigated by states and usually involve people working for groups that pay for sign-ups.
Earlier this year, California officials opened an investigation into whether signature-gatherers were offering to pay people for signing a ballot petition. In 2025, Pennsylvania officials brought criminal charges against seven people for submitting fraudulent voter registration forms.