Donald Trump’s administration has opened a criminal investigation into the alleged presence of thousands of noncitizens on voter rolls in California. Local election officials have received subpoenas to appear before a federal grand jury, The New York Times reported Thursday.
According to the newspaper, which cited documents issued by investigators, at least two employees of the Los Angeles County voter registration office received them last week. The grand jury session was set for the morning of Nov. 4, the day after the congressional elections.
The subpoenas seek, among other things, documents describing how officials check whether foreign nationals are voting in elections and how they prevent their votes from being counted.
According to the Times, a criminal proceeding could give the administration access to materials it has not obtained so far, either through a lawsuit or through warning letters.
Dean Logan, head of the Los Angeles County election office, called the subpoenas “intimidation.” He said the U.S. Department of Justice has taken a confrontational stance toward local authorities from the start, and he assured the public that officials are acting in accordance with state and federal law.
The investigation is an escalation of a dispute between the federal government and California authorities that has lasted for weeks, and part of the White House’s effort to prove that ineligible people are voting in elections en masse. The powers of state and federal authorities are also at issue. Although the elections include races for Congress, state authorities are responsible for organizing them.
According to the Times, the actions against California are intended to portray elections in Democratic-run states as rigged against Republicans.
On Wednesday, federal judge David Carter rejected the administration’s request to block the counting of votes from about 20,000 people who, according to the Trump administration, probably are not U.S. citizens. California authorities say the federal data used to compile the list is unreliable. The Times noted that research shows this type of election fraud is very rare.
The judge also admonished the federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, Bill Essayli, who had suggested that officials who refuse to cooperate could be held responsible for complicity in a crime.
The Justice Department has appealed the ruling. Essayli said the matter would have to be decided by the Supreme Court.
From Washington, Oskar Górzyński (PAP)
