The Justice Department warned Los Angeles County on Friday that election workers who knowingly count ballots from people on a federal list of likely noncitizens could be treated as accomplices to a federal crime. The letter came one day after the department sued California over the same list.
Friday update: DOJ letter to Los Angeles County
Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter signed the two-page letter, dated Oct. 16. It answers an Oct. 15 letter from the Los Angeles County Counsel’s Office, which had said the county registrar is legally barred from setting the ballots aside. President Donald Trump posted an image of the letter on Truth Social Friday night, and Breitbart News reported on it Saturday.
- The warning: “If persons knowingly tabulate ballots cast by individuals identified by federal agencies as noncitizens, they risk becoming aiders and abettors to a federal crime,” the letter says. It cites the federal law that bars noncitizens from voting in federal elections and the law that makes helpers equally liable.
- What DOJ is asking: The department says it wants only a temporary hold on those ballots until citizenship is checked. It says it has not asked the county to purge voters or cancel registrations.
- The county’s argument: The letter rejects the county’s position that California’s sworn-statement registration system and a federal 90-day “quiet period” on voter-roll maintenance prevent the county from acting.
- Who got it: The letter is addressed to an assistant county counsel. It says officials in both the secretary of state’s office and the county registrar’s office face legal risk.
No charges have been filed, and the lawsuit is still pending. California Attorney General Rob Bonta has called the federal demands meritless.
The lawsuit filed Thursday
The Justice Department sued California on Thursday, asking a federal judge to block the state from counting mail ballots from more than 20,000 registered voters the government says are likely noncitizens. The suit comes days after federal officials warned the state they could take emergency action.
The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. It names the state, Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan. The Daily Caller first reported the filing Thursday afternoon.
What the lawsuit asks for
- Set ballots aside: Prosecutors want California to hold back mail ballots from the people on the federal list and not count them until their citizenship is verified.
- Check citizenship: The suit asks the state to confirm citizenship on its own or with federal agencies, not rely only on the statement voters sign when they register.
- Where the names came from: Homeland Security Investigations compared public voter files with federal immigration records. DHS says the review is preliminary and still going on.
How the dispute built
California mails a ballot to every registered voter. The complaint says the state sent this year’s ballots on Oct. 1. Federal officials gave the state a list of more than 20,000 names on Oct. 13 and asked it to work with them on the review. The government says California declined. iSEARK.com reported earlier this week that the Justice Department had threatened emergency action over the list.
“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,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in the department’s release. Attorney General Todd Blanche called it “state-facilitated voter fraud” and said the state would have “seriously undermined confidence” in elections if a court finds it responsible.
California pushes back
California Attorney General Rob Bonta wrote on X that ballots are already in most voters’ hands and called the administration’s demands “meritless.” He said the state looks forward to making its case in court. Gov. Gavin Newsom called the suit a “desperate attempt” to suppress California voters, the Daily Caller reported. The allegations have not been proven in court. The general election is Nov. 3.
Sources: Justice Department letter to the Los Angeles County Counsel’s Office, Oct. 16, 2026, as posted by President Trump on Truth Social; Breitbart News; U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California release and complaint, Oct. 15, 2026 (justice.gov); The Daily Caller; Attorney General Rob Bonta’s post on X.
