Justice Department Issues Grand Jury Subpoenas to California Election Officials

The Justice Department issued grand jury subpoenas Thursday to local election officials in California as part of a criminal investigation into the state’s voter rolls, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter who spoke with ABC News. The move intensifies the Trump administration’s dispute with states over election administration just days before the midterm elections.

The subpoenas are part of the administration’s effort to substantiate its claim that thousands of noncitizens appear on California’s voter rolls.

Several employees at the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder’s office received grand jury subpoenas last week. The documents require them to testify Nov. 4, one day after the election.

The subpoenas, reviewed by ABC News, also seek internal documents and communications concerning the federal government’s requests to California Secretary of State Shirley Weber for information about “noncitizen voting.” They further request records detailing the agency’s procedures for identifying and preventing unlawful voting by noncitizens.

Earlier this month, the DOJ warned that election workers could face criminal charges if they knowingly counted ballots cast by noncitizens. In a letter to Los Angeles officials, Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter wrote that “noncitizen voting in a federal election is a federal crime — and knowingly facilitating such conduct is equally unlawful.”

The New York Times was the first to report that California election officials had received the subpoenas.

A federal judge in California rejected the Justice Department’s request Wednesday for an emergency order requiring the state to set aside roughly 20,000 ballots cast by people the Trump administration has described as “likely” noncitizens.

“Never before in American history has the federal government, on the eve of an election, sought to coerce a state and local government to abandon their own Constitutional elections procedures and bend to the will of the Executive Branch,” U.S. District Judge David Carter wrote in the ruling.

“Judge Carter’s admonishment about threats directed at election officials on Tuesday was well placed and appreciated. At every step, the U.S. Department of Justice has taken a confrontational, adversarial approach. Election officials are acting in accordance with state and federal law,” Dean Logan, the Los Angeles County registrar-recorder/county clerk, said in a statement to ABC News.

“Clear court rulings at both the U.S. District Court level and the Court of Appeals have confirmed that. Threats and intimidation have no place in elections. We will take whatever steps necessary to ensure the safety of our employees and to remain focused on serving the voters of Los Angeles County so they can exercise their voting franchise,” he added.

A Justice Department spokesperson said in a statement: “The Department of Justice does not comment on leaks about alleged grand jury subpoenas.”

The spokesperson added: “But to be clear, the district court judge explained that voting unlawfully results in criminal exposure. Consistent with this, California also wrote in its filing that the remedy for unlawful voting is through criminal prosecution. Thus, while DOJ maintains that a civil remedy is still available, all agree that noncitizen voting is properly addressed through criminal law.”