‘The Government Is Not Our Friend’: Founder of True the Vote Discusses Being Targeted by FBI, IRS

Years before the FBI raid on President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, Catherine Engelbrecht, founder of election monitoring organization True the Vote, already understood that federal agencies were being weaponized against political foes.

During President Barack Obama’s administration, her personal, business, and nonprofit dealings suddenly became of intense interest to the federal government. She endured more than 15 instances of audits or inquiries from the FBI, IRS, Environmental Protection Agency, Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Engelbrecht said seeing Trump’s home raided made her sick. It reminded her of her own experience and offered proof that more than a decade after her dealings with federal law enforcement began, the United States is moving toward communism.

Secret Service personnel are seen in front of the home of former President Donald Trump at Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., on Aug. 8, 2022. (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Getty Images)

“It was a nauseatingly clarifying moment,” Engelbrecht told The Epoch Times. “Like, just in case you thought it was enough to cheat him out of an election—No. They want him gone. They want him indicted.”

It galvanized her resolve to continue speaking about election integrity.

“It was clarifying in its clear weaponization, and a stark reminder of what we’re facing,” Engelbrecht said of the raid. “We cannot allow this to continue, or children do not have a chance.”

‘They Needed to Kneecap Us’

Engelbrecht became interested in election integrity after she volunteered to work the polls in Texas in 2009 and noticed procedural problems she felt should be addressed. She started True the Vote, which grew into a national election integrity movement. True the Vote is the investigative group behind the documentary “2,000 Mules,” but it was started well before the 2020 election.

Engelbrecht says True the Vote

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