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Trump DHS asked CISA to secretly obtain and hack a voting machine

politicsOct 19, 20264071

ProPublica reported that months into Donald Trump’s second term, political appointees at the Department of Homeland Security asked the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to secretly acquire a voting machine, hack it, and deliver findings to the White House. The officials reportedly directed CISA staff not to notify the voting machine company if they discovered vulnerabilities, which career employees said made them fear they were being asked to take part in political interference. Staffers also told ProPublica the mission was infeasible in practice because personnel with the necessary skills had been laid off by Elon Musk’s DOGE. CISA officials ultimately did not act on the request. ProPublica reported that CISA has reduced assistance to several state election authorities and that some state officials told ProPublica they fear the agency has been compromised by a conspiracy-obsessed presidential administration. The White House responded to ProPublica by saying, "President Trump has done more than any other President to ensure we have free and fair elections."

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