DOJ Sends Grand Jury Subpoenas to California Election Officials Over Noncitizen Ballots
The Justice Department has sent grand jury subpoenas to California election officials, escalating its fight with the state over ballots it believes may have been cast by noncitizens.
The Associated Press obtained three subpoenas sent Oct. 21 and Oct. 24 to employees of the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder. They order the workers to appear in court on Nov. 4, the day after the election.
The subpoenas seek records on the office’s “methods for screening for unlawful voting by aliens,” any efforts to keep noncitizen votes from being counted, and letters federal officials sent in July and October about noncitizens on state voter rolls.
A letter attached to one subpoena says it was issued in “an official criminal investigation being conducted by the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations.” Receiving a subpoena does not necessarily make someone a target.
The subpoenas also ask for the county’s correspondence with Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter about noncitizen voting, CBS News reported.
Justice Department leaders directed federal prosecutors in California to pursue the subpoenas, and an initial batch went out Thursday, Bloomberg Law reported, based on people familiar with the matter. The targets and possible charges are not yet known.
The Los Angeles office led by First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli has been eager to investigate officials including the secretary of state, one person said. Some of the state’s four federal districts objected to a directive that could affect the Nov. 3 election.
Judge Rejected Ballot Demand
The subpoenas follow a ruling Tuesday by U.S. District Judge David O. Carter rejecting the administration’s bid to force California to set aside up to 20,000 mail ballots it suspects came from noncitizens. Both sides agree the list includes some citizens.
On Thursday, Carter appointed Daniel B. Garrie as a special master to help develop the facts and set a Nov. 13 evidentiary hearing. The department has asked the 9th Circuit to rule quickly, warning of “irreversible ballot processing occurring on an ongoing basis.”
A department spokeswoman said it “does not comment on leaks about alleged grand jury subpoenas,” but added that “all agree that noncitizen voting is properly addressed through criminal law.”
Essayli had warned recently that “any election official who knowingly processes the ballot of a noncitizen is opening themselves to legal jeopardy.”
Los Angeles County Registrar Dean Logan pushed back, pointing to Carter’s warning that “these threats must stop.” “At every step, the U.S. Department of Justice has taken a confrontational, adversarial approach,” Logan said. “Threats and intimidation have no place in elections.”
President Trump blasted Carter’s ruling Thursday before leaving for a South Carolina rally. “California is very corrupt. The elections are extremely corrupt. The judge should not have done that but we’ll appeal that, of course,” he told reporters.
Federal authorities have already charged more than two dozen foreign nationals in California in a statewide sweep targeting people accused of illegally registering or voting.
Recipients can ask a court to quash the subpoenas, which could set off litigation stretching past the midterms. More than 500,000 ballots have already been processed in Los Angeles County alone.
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