An unusual statement from the US Attorney in the Middle District of Pennsylvania says a “small number” of military ballots were “discarded,” and nine ballots cast for president Trump have been recovered. https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdpa/pr/statement-us-attorney-freed-inquiry-reports-potential-issues-mail-ballots

Seems to me it’s not ever the US Attorney’s role to count ballots.

The line “some of those ballots can be attributed to specific voters” is also troubling. Everyone who votes absentee including members of the military has a reasonable expectation of privacy; they don’t cast ballots expecting a federal prosecutor to link their name w their vote.

Trump’s director of communications is making use of the unusual statement.

Matt, is it appropriate for the federal prosecutor to open the ballots, attempt to match them to specific voters, count the votes, and release a vote count publicly?
https://twitter.com/mattwolking/status/1309186316635197442?s=21 https://twitter.com/mattwolking/status/1309186316635197442

The US Attorney for the Middle District if Pennsylvania has changed his unusual statement, saying that only 7 of the 9 ballots he previously said were cast for Trump actually were and election officials managed to seal 2 ballots from FBI’s prying eyes. https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdpa/pr/revised-statement-us-attorney-freed-inquiry-reports-potential-issues-mail-ballots

The changes make an unusual statement even more unusual.

A somewhat less bizarre statement from the county district attorney says “the investigation is in its early stages and we are confident that it will be successfully resolved so it will not have an impact on the integrity of the election process.” via @Tierney_Megan