DOJ official defends Trump's noncitizen voter probe on '60 Minutes,' accuses show of editing out her answers

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon defended the Trump administration's investigation into noncitizen voters ahead of the midterm elections during CBS' "60 Minutes" on Sunday.

"There are people who feel that the point is to sow distrust about the whole election system. There are very few people who are noncitizens who end up voting — very, very few. And so, therefore, what's the purpose?" Lesley Stahl, host of "60 Minutes," asked Dhillon.

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Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon pushed back on claims the Trump administration is sowing election distrust, saying thousands of noncitizen voting cases are under review. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Dhillon responded, "The point is actually the opposite of what you were saying. It's not to sow distrust. The distrust is there. And so, all of these kinds of crimes are being prosecuted now for the first time really, in volume. And look, even the Biden administration prosecuted 13 people for noncitizen voting."

Stahl interrupted and said the numbers were "tiny."

"So Lesley, we've been in office for less than two years. We've had investigations ongoing for over a year, and it takes time. There are literally thousands of them out there that we are looking at," Dhillon responded.

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The assistant attorney general defended the Trump administration's voter roll scrutiny on "60 Minutes" ahead of the midterms. (Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images)

Dhillon pledged in July that the Trump administration will pursue every provable case of illegal voting under what she described as a "broken windows" enforcement strategy, marking a sharp shift from prior administrations as the DOJ intensifies scrutiny of voter rolls following revelations that noncitizens were registered to vote in New Jersey.

Dhillon told Fox News Digital at the time the department's approach is to investigate every credible lead and prosecute every case supported by the evidence, rejecting what she described as the prior view that only widespread fraud or election-altering misconduct warranted federal action.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon spoke to "60 Minutes" host Lesley Stahl on Oct. 18, 2026. (David Crane/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images; Sean Zanni/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)

Her statement came after Democratic New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill revealed that thousands of noncitizens ended up on the state's voter rolls through the motor-voter system.

The "60 Minutes" host asked if there were plans to send Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to polling locations.

Dhillon said there were "no plans" to do so.

Dhillon dismissed concerns that President Donald Trump would challenge the results of the midterms as "paranoia," Stahl said during a voice-over moment in the segment. 

The "60 Minutes" host asked Dhillon, "So would you consider a noncitizen voting an irregularity that would lead to a challenge of the vote?"

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"I think that would lead to the person's vote being challenged, but not the entire election," Dhillon said.

Stahl went on to ask if Dhillon could rule out a challenge to a state vote.

"Well, I don't know what is going to happen, but I can tell you that absent some shocking contingency that is unexpected, there should be no interruption in the usual course of counting and certifying the results in the states," Dhillon responded.

"Every illegal vote cancels out the vote of a lawful American citizen," a DOJ spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "In 2020, Iowa's 2nd Congressional District race was decided by

six votes

. The Department is now bringing more than double that amount of election fraud cases every week. Every federal race also shares the ballot with state and local contests, which are often decided by even narrower margins. Voting by noncitizens and other ineligible voters is a federal crime, and the Department will enforce the law whether a case involves one illegal ballot or hundreds. These prosecutions protect the integrity of our elections and deter others from breaking the law. That is exactly what Americans expect from their Justice Department."

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"I set some fake news straight on @60Minutes tonight, though as usual they edit out 95% of the answers," Dhillon posted on X in response to a video of her exchange with Stahl.

CBS did not immediately return Fox News Digital's request for comment.

Lindsay Kornick is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to lindsay.kornick@fox.com and on Twitter: @lmkornick.