Court weighs DOJ challenge over suspected noncitizens on California voter rolls
First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli joins ‘The Story’ to discuss the Justice Department’s legal fight with California over voters the federal government alleges are noncitizens. He warns against counting ballots cast by suspected noncitizens as the state awaits a key court ruling.
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Leadership at the Department of Justice is escalating the Trump administration’s fight with California over suspected illegal voting, directing top federal prosecutors to pursue criminal subpoenas of local and state officials.
At least four election workers in California have received federal criminal grand jury subpoenas within the last week, CalMatters reported. At least one of these subpoenas was delivered on Thursday, after a federal judge rejected the DOJ’s request that California set aside mail-in ballots associated with over 20,000 registered voters whose citizenship the Trump administration has called into question.
A subpoena sent to three election employees at the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder’s office requested records on how the department stops non-citizens from voting as well as “records relating to or involving evidence collected by your agency which tends to indicate an alien has voted in a federal election.” An official in Orange County received a similar subpoena, local media reported.
Multiple people vote early at the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder’s office on Oct. 19, 2026. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
“This court believes it would be wise that any threats to state or county employees cease immediately,” the judge said during court proceedings. “These threats must stop,” he wrote in his Wednesday decision.
A Justice Department spokesperson pushed back against characterizations that the administration was targeting individuals with subpoenas, noting that receiving a subpoena doesn’t mean you are a target and that the DOJ generally doesn’t subpoena targets.
Governor Gavin Newsom is seen during a press conference about ‘legal action against Trump administration’ at the Office of the Attorney General in Sacramento, California, United States on October 28, 2025. (Tayfun Cokun/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“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,” Justice Department spokeswoman Kiersten Pels said in an emailed statement. “Thus, while DOJ maintains that a civil remedy is still available, all agree that noncitizen voting is properly addressed through criminal law.”
She declined to comment on the “alleged grand jury subpoenas,” citing departmental policy.
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT CHARGES 16 ACROSS MULTIPLE STATES WITH ALLEGED ILLEGAL VOTING, ELECTION CRIMES
US President Donald Trump (R) speaks as Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick (L) looks on before he signs an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on March 31, 2026. President Donald Trump on March 31 signed an order seeking to crack down on mail-in voting, escalating his push to restrict a popular way of casting ballots in US elections. Trump’s executive order follows repeated attacks by the 79-year-old Republican on US elections, based on his disproven conspiracy theories about supposed cheating by his Democratic opponents. It was unclear whether Trump has authority to impose the measures and legal challenges were almost certain, with a possible final decision being left to the Supreme Court. (Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty Images)
The DOJ’s clash with California is part of a broader effort undertaken by the Trump administration to prove widespread voter fraud. While the administration has turned up a number of examples of non-citizens registered to vote in federal elections, it has yet to prove widespread illegal voting.
The DOJ has appealed the decision blocking it from compelling California to separate ballots associated with more than 20,000 registered voters it suspects may be noncitizens. Many of these ballots, however, have already been cast by early voters and anonymized, making it virtually impossible to identify them.
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The California governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Friday.