Free Speech For People, a national nonpartisan legal advocacy organization, today urged Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, as President of the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) for all state attorneys general, to explore the state prosecution of President Donald Trump under their respective state laws for urging his supporters to commit voter fraud in the upcoming midterm elections. A copy of the letter will also be sent to all state attorneys general in the United States. This letter supports a request previously submitted to NAAG by attorneys Ralph Nader and Bruce Fein.

During the final night of the 2026 Republican National Convention, Trump had the audience recite a pledge with him that they would “cheat like hell” in the upcoming election, effectively soliciting his supporters to commit criminal voter fraud.

Federal law criminalizes voter fraud, and the U.S. Department of Justice and relevant federal agencies should investigate this statement, but it is clear they will not take action because these agencies are corruptly controlled by Trump. However, state and local officials also have a separate but equally important obligation to enforce their state criminal laws–and they must do so now.

Voter fraud is illegal in states across the country, and those laws apply to federal elections too. Trump’s scheme to have his supporters commit voter fraud does not need to succeed to be a crime because states also criminalize soliciting criminal activity, attempting a crime, and conspiring to commit a crime. During his speech, Trump tried to create a criminal agreement with his supporters by reciting a pledge, and those supporters entered that agreement by repeating the pledge with him. These actions require criminal investigations by state attorneys general across the country.

As Free Speech For People has repeatedly emphasized, there is no immunity for criminal acts by a president when those actions are not part of his official duties. The distinction is particularly evident here, where Trump was speaking at a political event in his personal capacity as party leader, not as part of his federal official duties as President. There can be no immunity for his partisan statements or actions during the partisan political event.

Trump has a history of urging his supporters to take criminal actions and attack democratic institutions, as we saw on January 6, 2021. Now, Trump is taking illegal and unconstitutional actions to attack the midterm elections and destabilize our democracy. His mobilization of supporters to commit voter fraud is yet another illegal and corrupt move as he seeks to gain more power and personal benefit from the presidency while trampling American democracy.

State attorneys general have the power and responsibility to protect our democracy and effectuate rule of law by upholding state criminal laws against Trump, just as they would with any other individual. They must do so with urgency to protect our midterm elections and to hold Trump accountable.

Read the letter here.