Feds, watchdogs flag election-related threats, including those in Illinois

CHICAGO – While election officials have ramped up efforts to combat misinformation and reassure voters the election is secure - election threats remain a concern, according to an NBC 5 Investigates’ review of police records and memos from federal agencies.

One such instance in Illinois caught the attention of the feds last month.

A traffic stop this past May at a Pekin, Illinois gas station ended with Dalton Mattus’ car being towed.

But not before police searched it - much to the objection of Mattus, who called the search “illegal.”

“You guys are all tyrants,” he told them.

An NBC 5 Investigates’ review of the police body camera shows a Pekin officer asking Mattus about what’s inside of a military-style pouch that’s locked.

Mattus’ reply: “personal items.”

Those personal items turned out to be pipe bombs.

Hours later, SWAT team members arrested Mattus at his apartment and detained his girlfriend, who was not charged. Authorities confiscated guns, molds to make ghost guns and ammunition, according to a copy of the police report and evidence photos obtained by NBC 5 Investigates.

Mattus later told police during an interview that “undocumented immigrants and a corrupt government” were reasons he would need such devices and weapons,” but added that “he did not want to hurt anyone” nor was he planning an attack.

But an NBC 5 Investigates’ review of what appears to be Mattus’ Facebook shows several posts that were flagged by Facebook as parroting false or misleading information. In the days after the 2020 election, Mattus posted a several false claims about President Biden before ending the post with “I’m reading for the ****ing Civil War.”

Mattus has since pleaded guilty to federal weapons charges. NBC 5 Investigates was able to reach his attorney, who declined to comment.

Mattus is one of five individuals named in a federal Office of Intelligence report published in September, which discusses their threat assessment of individuals who’ve discussed a civil war. The report – first reported by the online transparency organization Property of the People – notes that discussions of civil war have increased after the failed assassination attempt of former President Trump in July.

The report notes that all discussions about the civil war online in the past three years have been committed by lone offenders or small cells.

And while federal authorities said they have no evidence that individuals discussing a civil war are coalescing, they acknowledge that don’t have a complete threat report and continue to monitor the situation.

Mattus’ arrest in Pekin, Illinois was one of five incidents within the past year flagged by the feds.

“If you see something, say something,” said Jake Braun, a former White House cybersecurity liaison who now runs a cyber lab at the University of Chicago.

Braun said the larger threats aren’t necessarily lone wolves, but foreign interference through the spread of disinformation online that is designed to spread false claims and create infighting within the American electorate. It’s a problem, he says, we helped create in the digital age as states moved towards more modern means of voting – and away from – archaic forms like the hanging or dimpled “chads” we saw following the 2000 election.

“That’s how we ended up buying all this technology that is infused into our voting infrastructure, which is why we are so concerned about cyber attacks,” Braun said.

While the vast majority of local election officials interviewed by NBC 5 Investigates said they anticipate a safe and secure election, threats and vulnerabilities to our democratic process do exist.

Cyber researcher Jeremiah Fowler, who is based in Germany, said he discovered a vulnerability over the summer where the voter information and personal identifiers of more than 4 million Illinois residents was accessible online.

“Out of those 30 (counties), 15 were publicly exposed and I believe there were over 4 million voter records there.”

Fowler made the discovery using specific search engines, but wasn’t sure who was responsible for the data. He discovered all Illinois counties that shared a common agreement with Platinum Technology Resource to handle their voter registration data.

He did not go public with the information he discovered until he was able to contact Platinum and another one of its partner companies and ensured that the information was secure and the gap shored up.

Platinum did not return a phone call, voicemail or email placed by NBC 5 Investigates in the past week.

Two county clerks contacted by NBC 5 Investigates said they were not notified by Platinum that the voter information was accessible. One said she was disappointed by the situation and was shopping for other vendors.

“In this case, the public should know because once it’s there – then you are hyper-focused on security. Then you are going to invest in cybersecurity,” Fowler said.

It’s another reminder, he said, that investing in public infrastructure should include sidewalks and cybersecurity.