Federal prosecutors have targeted President Trump’s political opponents and sued states over election administration just before the midterms. Devlin Barrett, a reporter for The New York Times, explains how this activity is compared with the Justice Department’s usual election-year behavior.

The department has issued grand jury subpoenas to local election officials as part of a widening effort to prove unsubstantiated claims about large numbers of illegal voters in the state.

© Philip Cheung for The New York Times

Together, they have pursued cases against the president’s enemies and protesters and amplified false claims of widespread election fraud, often citing thin evidence.

© Ronaldo Bolaños/Los Angeles Times, via Getty Images

In some cases, court paperwork bears unmistakable signs of urgency — typos, unorthodox tactics and the signatures of the department’s senior political leadership.

© Steve Helber/Associated Press

Lawyers for James B. Comey said the case centered on an issue that had already been investigated and had not led to charges, of a purported leak of national security information to The Times in October 2016.

© Doug Mills/The New York Times

The department, in a highly unusual lawsuit, argued that confusion over candidates with similar names could taint the election result.

© Doug Mills/The New York Times