FBI Email Chain Questioning Case Closure and Seeking DOJ/PIN Concurrence
A redacted FBI email chain from late 2021 records internal disagreement about closing a Michigan voter-registration investigation and communications concerning DOJ Public Integrity Section concurrence with non-prosecution.
In the latest email, an FBI employee said the case should not be closed before the issues raised in a forwarded message were considered and objected to language portraying PIN as merely concurring with an FBI decision rather than directing that the matter not be pursued.
“I'm not really comfortable closing the case at this point without raising these issues.”
Legal theory and acknowledged evidentiary difficulty
The forwarded sender cited DOJ election-offense guidance to argue that false voter-registration submissions could be prosecutable without proof that they changed an election. The sender characterized applications as fraudulent but acknowledged that proving willfulness would remain difficult.
“they still submitted fraudulent voter registration applications.”
A November 3 message said PIN would memorialize agreement with USAO and FBI decisions not to prosecute, while an earlier request sought an undated statement of DOJ/PIN's concurrence or nonconcurrence. These are communications about charging and closure positions, not a judicial finding.
“I’ll send an email today memorializing PIN’s agreement with the decisions of the USAO and FBI to not seek prosecution here.”