ICE to Pay Thomson Reuters $125M to Find Voter Fraud • Hacker News Board

Re: ICE to Pay Thomson Reuters $125M to Find Voter Fraud

#81

Post by legitster » Tue, Jul 21, 2026, 4:45 PM UTC

The product we're talking about here is CLEAR.

And one of the deep ironies is that CLEAR is already highly deployed at the state level, among other things, to verify voter identity and prevent voter fraud!

DHS and ICE also ostensibly already use CLEAR for a variety of other purposes - what's novel here isn't that they are getting access to new data, it's that they want to backseat drive on investigations the states are already conducting, using only a subset of the data the states already use.

Re: ICE to Pay Thomson Reuters $125M to Find Voter Fraud

#82

Post by jm4 » Tue, Jul 21, 2026, 4:49 PM UTC

pjc50 wrote: post #27

solfox wrote: post #6

I reckon that if you replace "find" with "make", you might be closer to the truth about what this data will be used for.

Either outcome is risky for TR here. They're a very respected news publisher, so if they start colluding in fraud that would damage all their other business. If they take it seriously and don't produce results they'll get reprisals. I suspect they'll dig up every random voter registration paperwork error they can find and hand that over, while trying not to have their name tied to bigger conspiracy theories.

They're not a news publisher. Not exactly anyway. They are a huge conglomerate and Reuters is just one division - and a recent addition at that. TR is probably more known for legaltech, Westlaw and ancillary kind of stuff that ends up spilling over into other industries like tax and accounting. They also have a large government division, which presumably will take on this project. Their bread and butter is enterprise tech, consolidated public data and research tools. That's sort of where the news fits in. It's just another data source.

Re: ICE to Pay Thomson Reuters $125M to Find Voter Fraud

#83

Post by opinion3k » Tue, Jul 21, 2026, 4:50 PM UTC

Varelion wrote: post #39

This process has been carried out, publicly, a few times. Every time the results not only fail to support the current regime's narrative, they actively goes against it. So, the question becomes: "Who is getting kickbacks for this 'deal'?" More importantly, how in the hell it this under the purview of ICE? Agencies and units have strictly outlined mission statements they are not supposed to go outside of. What kind of…

Because he's turned them into his own secret police - they even wear masks to hide their identifies. Fun fact - ICE has only been around for a little over 20 years. It's not some sancrosanct entity that couldn't have its necessary functions moved to entities with some sort of actual oversight and eliminated.

Re: ICE to Pay Thomson Reuters $125M to Find Voter Fraud

#84

Post by harimau777 » Tue, Jul 21, 2026, 4:50 PM UTC

pjc50 wrote: post #27

solfox wrote: post #6

I reckon that if you replace "find" with "make", you might be closer to the truth about what this data will be used for.

Either outcome is risky for TR here. They're a very respected news publisher, so if they start colluding in fraud that would damage all their other business. If they take it seriously and don't produce results they'll get reprisals. I suspect they'll dig up every random voter registration paperwork error they can find and hand that over, while trying not to have their name tied to bigger conspiracy theories.

At this point I think they are already screwed. Just collaborating with MAGA has destroyed their credibility.

Re: ICE to Pay Thomson Reuters $125M to Find Voter Fraud

#85

Post by iso1631 » Tue, Jul 21, 2026, 4:51 PM UTC

sanex wrote: post #7

Pretty sure you're supposed to get a warrant to access private information. I don't know how we ended up in this place where somehow paying for info precludes the necessity to get a warrant a la flock, cell tower data, etc.

Oh don't be silly

Private companies take whatever information they want and sell it to any bidder they want and you get no say

It's freedom. It's not like its the government that is doing the collection, so that's ok.

Re: ICE to Pay Thomson Reuters $125M to Find Voter Fraud

#86

Post by jmye » Tue, Jul 21, 2026, 4:52 PM UTC

Varelion wrote: post #39

This process has been carried out, publicly, a few times. Every time the results not only fail to support the current regime's narrative, they actively goes against it. So, the question becomes: "Who is getting kickbacks for this 'deal'?" More importantly, how in the hell it this under the purview of ICE? Agencies and units have strictly outlined mission statements they are not supposed to go outside of. What kind of…

[dead]

Re: ICE to Pay Thomson Reuters $125M to Find Voter Fraud

#87

Post by iso1631 » Tue, Jul 21, 2026, 4:53 PM UTC

epistasis wrote: post #9

This is shocking and scary amount government over reach, to fabricate evidence of something that everyone knows is false... We are really through the looking glass here, folks. Watch the confirmation hearings where potential appointees are asked to simply state factually who won the 2020 residential election. The amount of dissembling, avoidance, and inability to say that the emperor has no clothes..... it's just sho…

> This is shocking

Is it really? Have you been asleep for the last decade?

Re: ICE to Pay Thomson Reuters $125M to Find Voter Fraud

#88

Post by epistasis » Tue, Jul 21, 2026, 4:54 PM UTC

Covzire wrote: post #69

wat10000 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that everyone doesn't know this to be false. A substantial portion of the population "knows" it to be true.

Because California has systematically made it impossible to audit elections there. You have to be disinformed to think elections there are secure, you can't possibly know they are.

You are making up things, and then saying others are being disinformed?

California's elections are widely audited, observed, and secure.

Stop spreading lies.

Re: ICE to Pay Thomson Reuters $125M to Find Voter Fraud

#89

Post by epistasis » Tue, Jul 21, 2026, 4:55 PM UTC

iso1631 wrote: post #87

epistasis wrote: post #9

This is shocking and scary amount government over reach, to fabricate evidence of something that everyone knows is false... We are really through the looking glass here, folks. Watch the confirmation hearings where potential appointees are asked to simply state factually who won the 2020 residential election. The amount of dissembling, avoidance, and inability to say that the emperor has no clothes..... it's just sho…

> This is shocking Is it really? Have you been asleep for the last decade?

Having ICE buy data from a data broker to fabricate evidence for a well disproven conspiracy theory? This is still shocking, absolutely shocking!

I will retain my right to be shocked and angry about government overreach, thanks.

Re: ICE to Pay Thomson Reuters $125M to Find Voter Fraud

#90

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Jul 21, 2026, 4:57 PM UTC

wrs wrote: post #63

Forgeties79 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not sure what you’re asking. All I’m saying is they keep saying they’re “going to prove it” and when they find no evidence, they don’t stop acting like they’re going to solve the problem that they know doesn’t exist. The investigations are a waste of time and money because they already decided it’s true. They don’t care what the results are.

I’m responding to the “quietly disbanded” part. Neither is true; they continue to loudly come up with new initiatives. I don’t even know that they “decided it’s true”, as that’s irrelevant to the strategy, which is just to maintain a continuous atmosphere of loud uncertainty.

[deleted]