California election workers hit with criminal subpoenas as Trump DOJ turns up heat in voting showdown

Justice Department leaders are widening the Trump administration's dispute with California over alleged noncitizen voting, instructing senior federal prosecutors to seek criminal subpoenas aimed at state and local officials. CalMatters reports that grand jury subpoenas have reached at least four California election workers over the past week, including one delivered Thursday, just after a federal judge denied the department's bid to have the state hold back mail ballots tied to more than 20,000 registered voters whose citizenship the administration has questioned, according to Fox News.

Three employees of the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder's office were told to hand over records describing how the agency keeps noncitizens from casting ballots, along with any evidence it has gathered suggesting that a noncitizen voted in a federal contest. Local media say an Orange County official got a comparable demand.

In his Wednesday ruling, the judge wrote, "These threats must stop." A Justice Department spokesperson rejected the idea that individuals are being singled out, saying a subpoena does not make someone a target and that prosecutors typically do not subpoena targets.

Summarized by PolitiKool from Fox News’s reporting. Read the full story at Fox News →