President Donald Trump was certain he had finally found the proof he’d been raging about for months — the kind of election fraud he insists was hiding in plain sight. The suspicious ballot mailers surfacing in Georgia looked like the smoking gun he’d been demanding. But when the truth surf aced, the embarrassment cut in a different direction: the operation behind the mailers wasn’t run by the liberals he’d blamed — it traced back to a billionaire with his own political agenda. US President Donald Trump steps off Air Force One upon arrival at Richard B. Russell Regional Airport in Rome, Georgia, on February 19, 2026. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images) For months, Trump and his allies had painted Georgia as ground zero for fraud, insisting Democrats were manipulating absentee voting. This week, state officials delivered a different conclusion: the mail campaign that triggered outrage and violated election law was tied to a political operation backed by Elon Musk. That contradiction sits at the center of a formal reprimand issued by the Georgia State Election Board, which determined that Musk’s America PAC sent partially pre-filled absentee ballot applications and failed to clearly disclose that the documents were not official government forms. ‘We All Know!’: Trump Tried to Outrun His Own Past — Then a 30-Second Call Explodes on Live TV and Blows the Lid Off a Little Secret He Thought Was Buried for Good The finding lands awkwardly for Trump, whose repeated claims about Georgia fueled lawsuits, federal raids and renewed pressure on election officials. Instead of validating his accusations, the board’s reprimand redirects attention toward an operation run by Musk — a sometime ally who launched his own “America Party” after publicly feuding with Trump and signaling his desire to reshape the political landscape heading into 2026. Musk said his goal is to disrupt what he calls a broken two-party system and to build a new political force that can influence congressional races. That broader ambition adds another layer to the Georgia reprimand, which now places one of Trump’s most high-profile billionaire associates at the center of the very kind of controversy Trump has long used as political fuel. According to the board, residents in Chattooga, Cherokee, Coweta, Floyd, and Whitfield counties reported receiving absentee ballot applications from America PAC in November 2024 that already contained portions of the voter’s personal information. Georgia law prohibits anyone other than an authorized relative from sending an absentee ballot application pre-filled with voter details. The board also found the applications failed to state that they were not actual ballots and were not provided by the government, another requirement under state law. The reprimand was delivered at the State Election Board’s Feb. 18 meeting. America PAC did not send a representative or submit a statement defending its actions, according to the panel. View on Threads The mailings marked the latest instance of Musk’s political operation brushing up against election rules after he publicly floated ideas about paying people to sign petitions and register to vote in key swing states such as Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Online, critics framed the episode as proof that those who shout loudest about election integrity are often the ones breaking the law.  One post stated, “Are y’all seeing what’s happening in Georgia?! The State Election Board just confirmed that Elon Musk’s PAC sent out partially pre-filled absentee ballot applications — an actual election violation. This feels like the tip of the iceberg.” Others went further, “The State Election Board says Elon Musk’s PAC sent out partially pre-filled absentee ballot applications — and that’s not a ‘whoops,’ that’s a whole violation. And don’t kid yourself: this isn’t the whole story. This is the smoke before the blaze. Whatever happened in 2024 wasn’t clean, and people can feel the cracks in the foundation.” Others took a more cynical view of accountability: “They cheat. they ‘win.’ They get caught. And … no consequences. no removal from power. No jail time. Nothing.”  Georgia finally tracks down Trump’s so-called “voter fraud”… and it leads straight to Elon Musk’s PAC.Turns out the scam wasn’t imaginary after all.AOC had it right: fraud and con man behavior, every time. pic.twitter.com/Nxr73fWWFd— Brian Allen (@allenanalysis) February 21, 2026 For critics, the irony was hard to miss. While Trump and his allies continue to frame Georgia as a symbol of stolen elections, the most concrete violation cited by state officials traces back to a PAC bankrolled by one of Trump’s most powerful supporters. One observer, reacting to Musk’s growing footprint in elections asked.”…. why isn’t he in jail? His citizenship revoked?” The matter landed amid a broader fight over election oversight and federal power in Georgia. Just days earlier, a coalition of civil rights groups asked a federal judge to block the FBI from sharing voter data seized during a federal raid of the Fulton County elections office in January. The motion argues that voter information should not be disseminated beyond agents conducting the investigation. “So my concern is the use of the criminal process to go on a fishing expedition for access to the voter rolls,” said civil rights attorney Gerald Griggs, former president of the Georgia NAACP, according to WSB. He said there was a strong chance the motion, along with Fulton County’s effort to get the seized ballots back, could succeed. Griggs said his primary concern was, “to have it in the hands of the FBI and not know [what] the chain of custody is” as well as “the dissemination of voter information.”  Days later, the board declined a motion to take over Fulton County’s elections at a closely watched meeting in Winder, though at least one member suggested future intervention was still possible. Sen. Jon Ossoff on the FBI raid in Georgia:“If you live in a major democracy, and the nation’s spy chief is showing up at raids on sensitive election sites, something has gone wrong.”This comes after federal agents seized 2020 election materials in Fulton County and the… pic.twitter.com/uN71HLv4fp— Brian Allen (@allenanalysis) February 19, 2026 Roughly 700 boxes of election records were seized during the raid, which coincided with Trump’s renewed calls to “nationalize” voting and take over elections in multiple jurisdictions. Fulton County Commission Chair Robb Pitts has sued the federal government to recover the documents, with a hearing scheduled for Feb. 27. The board has since voted to seek access to the records once they are returned and to subpoena Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in a separate case involving an alleged double voter. At the same time, some Republican lawmakers have pressed for a state takeover of Fulton County elections, citing claims about voter rolls that county officials say are unfounded. Fulton County has been a focal point of Trump’s baseless claims about the 2020 election, despite two recounts — including a hand count — confirming Joe Biden’s narrow victory in Georgia. Investigations over the past five years have repeatedly debunked allegations of widespread fraud or misconduct by county election workers. ‘Why Isn’t He in Jail?’: Trump Swore a Massive Election Scandal Was Exploding — Then the Plot Twist Came, and a Billionaire with His Own Agenda Left Him Holding the Fallout ...read more read less