FBI Closes Nevada 2020 Fraud Probe Sought by U.S. Attorney After Finding 38 Possible Non‑Citizen Votes
The FBI has closed a politically driven 2020 election‑fraud inquiry in Nevada, opened at the insistence of First Assistant U.S. Attorney Sigal Chattah, after a review of voter rolls against Department of Homeland Security citizenship data found only 38 possible non‑citizen voters statewide and no viable cases before the statute of limitations expired. Chattah reportedly ordered the probe in July and provided a thumb drive of Republican Party data claiming non‑citizen voting and cash‑for‑ballots schemes on tribal reservations, and told colleagues it could help flip a congressional seat and target Democratic state attorneys general who pursued fake electors. Agents told her office in late January that, beyond the small number of possible ineligible voters, time had run out to bring charges, and the FBI closed the assessment. The closure undercuts continued federal investigations into 2020 fraud claims in Georgia and Arizona, where the FBI has executed a search warrant for Fulton County ballots and issued a grand jury subpoena for records tied to Arizona’s Maricopa audit, even as those claims rely heavily on figures like Trump White House lawyer Kurt Olsen whose allegations of sweeping fraud remain unproven. Ethics experts and election‑integrity advocates are already questioning why a sitting top federal prosecutor was allowed to press an investigation anchored in partisan opposition research and debunked theories while being kept in the loop on FBI findings, raising fresh concerns about politicization of federal law enforcement in swing‑state election cases as Trump pushes Congress to pass strict proof‑of‑citizenship and voter‑ID rules in the SAVE Act.
📌 Key Facts
- FBI closed its Nevada 2020 election‑fraud inquiry in late January after finding only 38 possible non‑citizen voters when comparing state voter rolls to DHS citizenship data.
- First Assistant U.S. Attorney Sigal Chattah ordered the probe in July, using a Nevada Republican Party thumb drive alleging non‑citizen voting and cash‑for‑ballots on tribal reservations and telling colleagues it could help flip a GOP House seat and ensnare Democratic officials.
- FBI agents told Chattah’s office that the statute of limitations had expired, making prosecutions untenable, while similar 2020‑election investigations continue in Georgia and Arizona based on unproven fraud claims.
📊 Relevant Data
All available evidence suggests that a miniscule number of noncitizens vote illegally in federal elections and not in numbers that would sway election outcomes.
6 facts about false noncitizen voting claims and the election — NPR
U.S. citizens of color are more likely than White citizens to lack citizenship documents, with 3% of people of color reporting they do not have proof of citizenship compared to 1% of White citizens.
Citizenship proof isn't easy for 1 in 10 eligible U.S. voters — NPR
About 3% of voters of color do not have access to proof-of-citizenship documents, compared with 1% of White Americans, representing a disparity in document access.
Millions of US voters lack access to documents to prove citizenship — The Guardian
The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act contributed to significant demographic changes, increasing the foreign-born population from 9.6 million in 1965 to 45 million in 2015, with continued growth to about 46.1 million by 2022.
Modern Immigration Wave Brings 59 Million to U.S. — Pew Research Center
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