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Why it matters: Numerous local election officials, across the political spectrum, have told NPR they are avoiding sharing voter data or other security information with the federal government for fear that information could be used against them in some way.

The backstory: The Trump administration has taken unprecedented steps to investigate local election administration, including taking states to court in an effort to get their private voter registration data and attempting (and in some cases succeeding) to access voting machines and ballots.

Read on... for more on concerns from election officials.

Gary Berntsen is convinced Venezuela stole the 2020 U.S. election.

That myth has been debunked numerous times, including as part of Fox News' 2023 $787 million settlement with voting machine company Dominion, but Berntsen, a former CIA operative, has been pushing it for years.

"One of the things that we learned is there's 14 different technical ways that you can steal an election," Berntsen explained in an interview in the fall with conservative podcaster Lara Logan.

But ahead of the 2024 election, Berntsen says he couldn't get anyone to listen to him. Not the FBI. Not the media.

Finally, he went to Congress, where he says he was similarly rebuffed by almost everyone, including Republicans. Except one.

"One politician in America was not afraid," Berntsen told Logan. "It was Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma."