DENVER, Colo. — The FBI has invited state election officials to an unexpected meeting about the midterm elections, but Colorado officials are skeptical of the federal government’s intentions.
"To prepare for the 2026 US midterm elections, your election partners at the FBI, DOJ, DHS, USPIS, and the EAC would like to invite you to a call where we can discuss our preparations for the cycle, as well as updates and resources we can provide to you and your staff… We look forward to speaking with you in support of the 2026 midterm elections,” wrote FBI staffer Kellie Hardiman in the email obtained by ABC News.
The invitation, sent last week, comes as the relationship between the Trump Administration and state secretaries across the country has reached a level of mutual distrust.
“We will engage with them from a very hesitant point of view,” said Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold.
The Justice Department is suing Colorado and several other states for refusing to turn over sensitive voter roll data.
Last week, the FBI raided an elections office in Georgia.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has been repeating calls for Republicans to “take over” and “nationalize” elections over false claims of election fraud.
“I would say the email was only unusual because at this point, it's the federal government that has made our elections less secure,” Griswold said. “We are now planning for contingencies on potential federal disruptions.”
Griswold says Colorado no longer cooperates with the federal government on “penetration tests,” which allow the federal government to hack into Colorado’s election systems to look for weaknesses.
Colorado has also ended the partnership of having a Department of Homeland Security representative at its Cyber Command Center on election day.
“Their actions have led to a brain drain of true professionals, and instead, we're dealing with a bunch of election deniers who suddenly are in very important positions in the federal government,” Griswold said.
In 2025, the Trump Administration cut funding to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which worked with states to secure elections.
Colorado has its own system for monitoring potential cyberattacks, but Griswold says the loss of real-time updates from the federal government on threats in other states is concerning.
“Over the last year, Trump has disbanded many of the people we used to work with at DHS. He stopped the counter foreign influence work that the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security used to engage in. So, they have been engaging with us, but from a negative side,” Griswold said.
The FBI call about the midterm elections is on February 25th.
It will include the FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Election Assistance Commission, along with the DOJ and Homeland Security.