Claims of FBI raid uncovering 'fraudulent ballots' in Texas are fabricated

Before results began to roll in for pivotal US midterm elections, social media users claimed an FBI operation in Houston, Texas seized 20,000 "fraudulent ballots" for Democratic candidates. But the Federal Bureau of Investigation said the claims are fabricated, while AFP found the rumors were tied to a stand-up comedian's account which regularly shares disinformation about elections.

"OVER TWENTY THOUSAND FRAUDULENT BALLOTS UNCOVERED IN FBI RAID OF HOUSTON STORAGE LOCKER WAREHOUSE ALL FOR DEMOCRATS. By Jonathan Gregory. Houston, TX - November 3, 2026," claims an X post which was reshared thousands of times. 

"An FBI raid of a storage locker warehouse in Houston Texas last night uncovered over twenty thousand fraudulent ballots all marked in favor of Democratic candidates," it continues.

The user shared the same text with identical visuals of collected ballots and an FBI vehicle across platforms . This  was  then picked up by additional accounts  on Facebook and  Threads .

State officials have been bracing for an uptick in election meddling allegations, including from President Donald Trump and his administration, as voters cast their ballots in midterm elections which could change the balance of power in Washington.

But the claims about an FBI raid in Texas are fabricated. 

"That information is false and no election-related operation occurred," Connor Hagan , public affairs officer for the Houston branch of the FBI, told AFP in a November 3 email (archived here ). 

Additionally, the images used in the post are all taken out of their original context, and unrelated to an FBI operation in Texas. 

Irrelevant images

One close-up image shows ballots collected from an official drop box by the San Francisco Department of Elections taken by David Paul Morris for  Bloomberg .

The image of the law enforcement vehicle clearly shows lettering for "FBI Atlanta" in the state of Georgia, not Texas.

Through a reverse image searches , AFP determined the original photograph  was taken by Ross Williams for the Georgia Recorder while covering a January 2026 raid at the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center (EHOC) in Union City (archived  here and here ).

The Georgia Recorder and other media covering on the  raid reported the affidavit used by the FBI to justify the action relied heavily on debunked theories about fraud in the 2020 election.

The exterior of the EHOC building -- located at 5600 Campbellton Fairburn Road in Union City, Georgia -- also matches the facade seen in another image shared in the misleading posts, further confirming when and where the FBI operation actually took place (archived  here and here ). 

The image of a storage rental unit matches a  real location in Houston, AFP verified through reverse image and Google Street View searches (archived  here and here ).

Contacted by AFP, the storage rental company did not provide an immediate response.

Comedy account

The account that originated the claims currently goes by "TrumpNews.Baby"  and describes itself as "Digital Content Creator for Pro Trump Administration" across platforms .

It has repeatedly changed usernames while mentioning Jonathan Gregory, a stand-up comedian who performs in Tempe, Arizona (archived  here ).

Older posts advertising gigs on the Facebook account -- which has more than 150,000 followers as of November 2026 -- further links to the page to the Arizona comedian.

Fact-checking organizations Lead Stories and Snopes have previously debunked other claims linked to Gregory. The user did not respond to AFP's request for comment on the nature of his posts. 

AFP has debunked other misinformation about the 2026 midterm elections  here .