The FBI and Election Crimes: Holding Government Officials Accountable
If there is one lesson members at all levels of the Federal Bureau of Investigation should learn — as a result of the politicizing allegations of corruption during the historic 2016 election cycle — that one lesson should be that federal law enforcement agencies and various intelligence agencies serve the American people, not political parties or corrupt politicians.
And no one should be more aware of that fact than those individuals who are chosen to serve within the upper-echelons of government agencies especially those entities which interact with the American people on a daily basis.
What Americans have seen over the last three years is the flagrant misuse of power by elected officials who appear to count on federal cops and security officers to turn a blind eye to the politically-motivated misuse and abuse of political power.
In democratic societies like the United States, the voting process is a means by which citizens hold their government accountable; conflicts are channeled into resolutions and power transfers peacefully. Our system of representative government works only when honest ballots are not diluted by fraudulent ballots. The FBI, through its Public Corruption Unit, has an important but limited role in ensuring fair and free elections. Election crimes become federal cases when:
- The ballot includes one or more federal candidates;
- The crime involves an election official abusing his duties;
- The crime pertains to fraudulent voter registration;
- Voters are not U.S. citizens.
Federal election crimes fall into three broad categories—campaign finance crimes, voter/ballot fraud, and civil rights violations.
Campaign finance
- A person gives more than $4,600 to a federal candidate (various limits apply for donations to and from committees and groups);
- A donor asks a friend to give money to a federal candidate, promising to reimburse the friend; the friend makes the donation and the real donor reimburses him;
- A corporation gives corporate money to a federal candidate;
- A person who is neither a citizen nor a green card holder gives money to a federal, state, or local candidate.
Civil rights violations
- Someone threatens a voter with physical or economic harm unless the voter casts his ballot in a particular way;
- Someone tries to prevent qualified voters from getting to the polls in a federal election;
- A scheme exists to prevent minorities from voting.
Voter/ballot fraud
- A voter intentionally gives false information when registering to vote;
- A voter receives money or something of value in exchange for voting in a federal election or registering to vote;
- Someone votes more than once in a federal election;
- An election official corrupts his or her office to benefit a candidate or party (e.g., lets unqualified voters cast ballots).
What is NOT a federal election crime:
- Giving voters a ride to the polls;
- Offering voters a stamp to mail an absentee ballot;
- Giving voters time off to vote;
- Violating state campaign finance laws;
- Distributing inaccurate campaign literature;
- Campaigning too close to the polls;
- Trying to convince an opponent to withdraw from a race.
The FBI’s International Corruption Unit (ICU) is the leading investigative entity in combating foreign corruption. ICU manages five programs:
- Foreign Bribery/Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)
- Foreign Corruption/Kleptocracy Program
- Antitrust
- International Fraud Against the Government
- International Corruption of Federal Public Officials
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