Make California Post a Preferred Source The Trump administration has fired a warning shot at California election officials, threatening possible criminal prosecution for counting ballots cast by suspected noncitizens as a bitter voting showdown escalates just weeks before Election Day.
In a blistering letter sent Friday, the Justice Department warned that election workers who knowingly process ballots from people identified by federal authorities as noncitizens could find themselves facing a federal criminal investigation.
The extraordinary threat came just one day after the administration slapped California with a lawsuit seeking to block the counting of mail-in ballots from roughly 20,000 suspected noncitizens.
“The legal consequences for either facilitating or ignoring a federal crime are significant. Noncitizen voting in a federal election is a federal crime — and knowingly facilitating such conduct is equally unlawful,” Trent McCotter, the Justice Department’s acting deputy attorney general, wrote in the letter obtained by the Associated Press.
McCotter delivered an even more ominous warning to officials responsible for tallying votes.
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“If persons knowingly tabulate ballots cast by individuals identified by federal agencies as noncitizens, they risk becoming aiders and abettors to a federal crime,” he wrote.
The letter was directed to the Los Angeles County Counsel’s office, with copies sent to California Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Los Angeles County Registrar Dean Logan.
The latest salvo comes as the Trump administration ramps up its crusade against alleged noncitizen voting ahead of the Nov. 3 election.
Federal officials said they identified approximately 20,000 likely noncitizens who received mail-in ballots in California, where ballots are automatically mailed to all registered voters.
The Justice Department demanded that state officials review a password-protected thumb drive containing the names within just 48 hours.
When California failed to meet the deadline, the administration sued the state on Thursday, seeking to stop the ballots from being counted until the voters’ citizenship status could be verified.
“California election officials were given an opportunity to remove noncitizens from their voter rolls and to sequester ballots returned from suspected ineligible voters. They refused,” said LA’s top federal prosecutor, Bill Essayli.
“We are taking California to federal court to demand that the votes of American citizens not be diluted by noncitizens,” he added.
Weber has pushed back, saying federal authorities have provided no evidence substantiating their explosive allegations.
The dispute is part of a broader crackdown that has seen the administration demand sensitive voter information from states, including birth dates, addresses, driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers.
In July, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin alleged that as many as 250,000 noncitizens were registered to vote across California, Nevada, New Jersey and Pennsylvania — claims met with skepticism from state election officials.
In Nevada, federal authorities initially flagged 1,500 supposed noncitizen voters, but a subsequent review found zero registered noncitizens among those identified.
The Justice Department has charged approximately 90 people with various election-related offenses this year, including 50 accused of voting illegally as noncitizens.
