Texas Woman Charged With Election Fraud After 'Ballot Harvesting'
People cast their ballots at a polling location on October 13, 2020 in Austin, Texas. The first day of voting saw voters waiting hours in line to cast their votes. Gov. Greg Abbott announced earlier this year that he would expand early voting for the election beginning on Oct. 13. Mail in voting began on Oct. 8 and has been part of a legal battle after Gov. Abbott declared each county may only have 1 mail in ballot drop off center, the ruling was later struck down in federal court but then the decision was upheld when a stay was ruled in the overturning. Sergio Flores/Getty Images

Rachel Rodriguez of San Antonio, Texas was arrested for allegedly operating a massive ballot harvesting scheme. Authorities discovered this after undercover video footage showed her committing illicit activities such as election fraud.

Breitbart News reported that aside from election fraud, Rodriguez was also charged with illegal voting, unlawful possession of an official ballot, and unlawfully assisting people voting by mail.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced her arrest this week. Under Texas law, those unlawful acts are felony charges and could result in a prison sentence of up to 20 years. Paxton noted that many continue to claim that there is no such thing as election fraud.

"We've always known that such a claim is false and misleading, and today we have additional hard evidence," Paxton said in the report.

According to Paxton, this is a victory for election integrity, and a strong signal that anyone who attempts to defraud the people of Texas, deprive their vote, and undermine the integrity of elections will be brought to justice.

Two videos caught Rodriguez operating a massive ballot harvesting scheme. Watchdog group Project Veritas released the footage. In one video, Rodriguez acknowledged that what she was doing is illegal and could go to jail for it.

Rodriguez reportedly claimed to be working with elected state and county officials in forcing voters and voting on behalf of people.

The Texas Attorney General's office released a statement saying that they are fiercely committed to ensuring the voting process is secure and fair throughout the state. Paxton added that his office is prepared to assist any Texas county in combating this un-American form of fraud.

Public Interest Legal Foundation President J. Christian Adams lauded Rodriguez's arrest, saying that Texas is leading the nation in effective ballot harvesting investigations.

Paxton said that the investigation into the scheme case is ongoing. He encouraged people involved with or who knows the operation to come forward.

Election Fraud Claims

Republican donors were reported to use a dark-money group. According to a CNBC report, it means a group was used to funnel millions of dollars to high-profile conservative organizations that pushed or investigated election fraud claims before and after President Donald Trump was defeated by Joe Biden.

President Donald Trump and his team earlier made allegations of election fraud upon losing to Biden.

Meanwhile, well-known lawyers who supported Trump's claims of election fraud are now facing serious legal and financial problems of their own, according to a former Department of Justice lawyers and legal experts.

The Guardian reported that Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, who helped fuel Trump's baseless charges of election fraud and gave a provocative talk to the Trump rally right before the march on the U.S. Capitol started, could be entangled in a federal investigation of the attack and is facing a disbarment complaint.

Pro-Trump lawyers Sidney Powell and Cleta Mitchell had also been struck with a defamation lawsuit for making false claims.

Giuliani earlier said in the Save America rally in D.C. before the Capitol attack that he's willing to stake his reputation on the fact that they are going "to find criminality there." He also said, "Let's have trial by combat."

Last year, it was reported that Giuliani had discussions with Trump about a presidential pardon that seems connected to another federal inquiry in New York of whether he violated foreign lobbying disclosure laws while in Ukraine digging for Biden's dirt.

A former GOP house member said there is no doubt that Giuliani is seeking a pardon. Last week, two House Democrats asked the New York State Bar Association to investigate Giuliani for his call for "trial by combat."