Karoline Leavitt Refuses To Rule Out Using ICE In Elections

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has refused to rule out that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents will be at polling locations during November’s midterm elections.

Leavitt was asked about recent comments made by Steve Bannon, a former adviser to President Donald Trump, who said that ICE would “surround the polls” in November in a bid to prevent the election from being “stolen.”

She said it was not something she had heard Trump consider, but added: “I can’t guarantee an ICE agent that an ICE agent won’t be around a polling location in November.”

Bannon made the comments after Trump said on Monday that Republicans should “take over” elections in as many 15 states, as he continued to baselessly claim that widespread fraud cost him re-election in 2020.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security previously told Newsweek that ICE was not planning poll-focused operations, but could arrest someone near a polling site if agents were pursuing a specific, ongoing threat.

This is a developing story. More to follow.