Multiple sources familiar with the events told CBS News a day later that the operations were part of a fraud-related investigation.
The push has been cheered by conservatives who have long argued such cases were underenforced and condemned by Democrats and voting rights groups who say the effort risks turning the FBI into a political weapon against liberal voter registration operations.
OOC is a nonprofit organization that partners with the Democratic Party in Ohio on voter mobilization and registration efforts. It is especially active in ballot referendums, using its huge network of donors, including the philanthropies of the Soros family. The Justice Department declined to comment on the specifics of the alleged investigation.
The raid is the latest flashpoint in the Trump administration’s expanded use of federal law enforcement to probe alleged voter fraud and election-related misconduct
“Search warrants are authorized by a judge, and anything said by any organization or others in the media is unfounded speculation, as the target of any investigation is not privy to the search warrant affidavit until after indictment,” a DOJ official told Fox News.
OOC funds these things by tapping a deep well of liberal donors at the very top level.
Recent tax documents show the organization had more than $10 million in revenue in 2024.
Last year, the group spent $250,000 to oppose a GOP-led effort to block codifying the right to an abortion in Ohio’s constitution and another $300,000 on a subsequent Republican redistricting effort
Between 2019 and 2020, the Soros family’s Foundation to Promote Open Society gave OOC around $1.9 million.
In 2021, the Open Society Action Fund gave another $1 million to OOC’s sister organization, the Ohio Organizing Campaign, and followed up with another $1 million in 2023.
OOC faced criticism in 2017 when a paid canvasser working with the group pleaded guilty to his involvement in a fraudulent voter registration operation.
OOC’s considerable financial resources are derived from a host of high-profile Democratic-aligned donor organizations like the Soros family’s philanthropies, New Venture Fund, and the Tides Foundation, as well as unions including the American Federation of Teachers and the Service Employees International Union
Republicans, however, have yet to produce conclusive evidence of widespread voter fraud in recent election cycles.
Federal investigators executed search warrants at the headquarters of a Soros-aligned voter mobilization organization in Ohio as part of what sources described as an ongoing fraud investigation.https://t.co/zKxIXozW1m
— American Greatness (@theamgreatness) June 16, 2026
“How can they distract and intimidate civil rights leaders and voters and community leaders who are helping people get registered to vote, and create a national spectacle about it?” Prentiss Haney, an OOC board member authorized to discuss the matter on behalf of the group, told MS Now.
“That is the only reason why they would choose to do that, do it now, in the middle of a contested political election in the state. There’s no other reason. They have no evidence of that,” Haney added.
OOC has described the federal scrutiny as an example of the Trump administration politicizing the justice system
“George Soros, and his wonderful Radical Left son, should be charged with RICO because of their support of Violent Protests, and much more, all throughout the United States of America,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“We’re not going to allow these lunatics to rip apart America any more, never giving it so much as a chance to ‘BREATHE,’ and be FREE. Soros, and his group of psychopaths, have caused great damage to our Country! That includes his Crazy, West Coast friends. Be careful, we’re watching you! Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Trump added.
