Justice Department task force to investigate ‘menacing threats’ against election workers

The US Department of Justice will launch a task force to investigate “menacing and violent threats” against generally nonpartisan officials and volunteers who help run the nation’s elections following an exodus of election workers and “alarming” reports of widespread threats stemming from election lies and right-wing disinformation.

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the initiative in tandem with the federal government’s lawsuit challenging Georgia’s far-reaching law that undermines voting rights in the state, among the first major voter suppression cases under Joe Biden’s administration after nearly 400 restrictive voting laws were proposed in nearly every state this year.

Justice Department officials in the agency’s civil rights and criminal divisions will work with the FBI to probe and prosecute threats, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced on 25 June.