California officials face grand jury subpoenas as DOJ expands voting probe

The Justice Department has issued grand jury subpoenas to state and local officials in California, escalating a dispute over allegations by the federal government that the state may have as many as 20,000 non-citizens registered to vote ahead of the midterm elections, according to sources with direct knowledge and copies seen by CBS News.

News of the subpoenas, which were sent between Oct. 21 and Oct. 24, came not long after U.S. District Judge David Carter in Los Angeles rejected the Trump administration's bid to require California election officials to separate out mail ballots received from roughly 20,000 people it claims are not U.S. citizens. The judge said allowing such a move would violate "longstanding constitutional principles" giving states the authority to administer their own elections.

Three of the subpoenas seen by CBS News were directed to officials at the office of the Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk. They ask for documents concerning the county's correspondence with Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter in connection with discussions about non-citizen voting.

They also ask for records and communications about the agency's methods for "screening for unlawful voting by aliens," as well as other information related to any evidence that may have been collected about non-citizen voters.

In a statement, Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan pointed to a section of Carter's ruling in which the judge chided the government for threatening to charge local officials who don't comply. The judge wrote that "these threats must stop."

"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. 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," Logan said.

"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."

In a statement, a Justice Department spokesperson said the agency does not comment on leaks about grand jury subpoenas. But the spokesperson acknowledged that taking criminal investigative action was the next logical step, based on the ruling by Carter.

"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," the spokesperson added.

Melissa Quinn contributed to this report.

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