Federal Agents Scour Walla Walla for Voter Fraud
A secret service investigator arrives to build a case against Adam Schmidt, accused of falsifying naturalization records to influence city elections.
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So notorious has the perjury case against Adam Schmidt become that secret service officials have arrived in Walla Walla to probe the alleged methods employed in swearing to the residency of Russian immigrants who secured their naturalization papers just prior to the last city election. Captain Bell, of the secret service department stationed at Seattle, arrived in the city yesterday to gather evidence in the case against Schmidt, which is set for trial at the United States district court next month. From the present status of the case against Schmidt, it promises to become one of the most important perjury cases ever tried in the district. Schmidt was indicted on ten counts by a grand jury at Spokane last month. The importance of the case is underscored by the government detailing a man of Captain Bell's reputation to ferret out evidence, and sensational testimony is expected.
“So notorious has the perjury case against Adam Schmidt become, that secret service officials have arrived in Walla Walla to probe to the bottom.”
Election integrity and the weaponization of naturalization processes were heated local political issues in 1903, echoing modern anxieties about the intersection of immigration status and voting rights. This case suggests that even small-town municipal elections were being monitored by federal secret service agents at the turn of the century.
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