‘I will hunt you down’: U.S. attorney baselessly threatens voters as polls open in Texas

A top federal prosecutor in Texas began the first day of early voting with a stark message to voters and local officials: “If you violate federal election law, I will hunt you down and prosecute you. Election Day is Tuesday, November 3. We’ll see you out at the polls.”

U.S. Attorney Aaron Reitz posted the video on social media on Monday, as Texans began voting in a high-stakes midterm election with intensely competitive races on the ballot, including the U.S. Senate matchup between Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) and state Rep. James Talarico (D). With Democrats poised to potentially win a statewide seat for the first time in decades, Republicans are more hellbent than ever on intimidating voters and officials with threats of criminal prosecution.   

In the video, Reitz threatened election officials as he explained his role in the election.

“It means no crooked local election administrators,” Reitz said. “They have a duty to prevent illegal voting, and I’m here to make sure they do their job.”

Reitz was appointed to the post in July, just in time for him to post a video spreading misinformation implying that a Houston man shot by ICE had illegal drugs in his vehicle, which was later debunked. He ran a hate-filled campaign earlier this year for Texas attorney general, losing the Republican primary to election denier Mayes Middleton. 

Emily Eby French, policy director at Common Cause Texas, blasted Reitz for using his office to threaten election officials with the possibility of criminal prosecutions — particularly when they raced to clear a backlog of hundreds of thousands of voter registrations after the state’s system glitched. 

“Why are we threatening our election officials when they are busy holding together all the laws, all the processes, and doing so with sometimes only one or two full-time staff members in their counties?” Eby French said. “I’m really disappointed to hear anyone from the government threatening local officials when they should be supporting them.”  

Reitz went on to outline steps his office is taking ahead of the election — assisting federal election monitors to “oversee compliance with federal law” at “key” polling places, collaborating with the Texas secretary of state and the Texas attorney general to investigate alleged violations of federal law and coordinating with the FBI, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division to “surge legal resources where we need them most.” 

Eby French called Reitz’s stance on federal election monitors “interesting” in light of the Texas attorney general’s 2024 lawsuit seeking to block monitors from the polls. Reitz previously served as a deputy attorney general for the Texas Attorney General’s office. 

“Federal monitors are allowed to be at the polling place, but they’re not allowed to disrupt anything. I have to believe that Reitz knows this,” Eby French said. “But I think that his posturing is intended to scare voters out of using their legal right to vote.” 

Eby French also called Reitz’s vow to “surge legal resources” a dog whistle for sending law enforcement to the polls this year.

“Intimidation at the polls is illegal. It doesn’t matter if it is federal law enforcement, state law enforcement, local enforcement. Anybody doing intimidation at the polling place is illegal. Hopefully Reitz knows this. And using the term ‘surge’ when most people associate ‘surge’ with ICE raises the specter of ICE at the polls, which is also illegal – and which we are hoping to not see in Texas,” Eby French said. “We will have a quick response to any illegal intimidation at the polls, whether it’s from a government office or a private actor.”

Ultimately, eligible voters will be able to cast a ballot at their local polling place in Texas, Eby French said, adding that they can call the national election protection hotline for assistance.