President Donald Trump’s election fraud crusade has an unlikely new vehicle: the Commerce Department.
Long known for more mundane work like promoting economic growth, shaping trade policy and producing federal statistics, under Secretary Howard Lutnick, Commerce is proving to be a useful ally in Trump’s efforts to reshape the country’s election systems ahead of the November midterms.
In recent months, the department has produced disputed Census Bureau findings on noncitizen voting and pressed the US Postal Service to adopt stringent new mail-ballot rules. Sources tell CNN that Commerce officials worked quietly behind the scenes to advance both initiatives, and that Lutnick has become a key partner in the White House’s election agenda.
Now, prominent Trump allies — including some inside the administration — are pressing Lutnick to use his department’s sweeping authorities over supply chains to ban certain voting machines, arguing that Chinese-made components could leave them vulnerable to hackers. Some have invoked those concerns to push Trump to declare a national emergency and seize greater federal control over November’s midterm elections.
Emails reviewed by CNN show that a pair of conservative activists who have advocated for banning voting machines discussed election security issues last year with White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Trump ally Ed Martin. Last month, those same activists pitched Lutnick on the issue, saying Lutnick told them that “he would be getting on it.”
