Rebuffed by judge, DOJ opens criminal probe of California mail-in ballots

The Justice Department is also widening a criminal investigation into California election officials, even after a judge ruled against the Trump administration, which wants California to throw out 20,000 mail-in ballots purportedly sent to non-citizens who are ineligible to vote. Those claims remain unsubstantiated. However, multiple news outlets reported that all four U.S. attorneys in California had begun issuing subpoenas seeking voter records that the Trump administration has so far been unable to obtain. The investigation is part of a broader effort by the administration to depict this year's midterms as rigged to help Democrats, a claim that President Trump has repeatedly made on the campaign trail. Dean Logan, the Los Angeles County Registrar, called the subpoenas an intimidation tactic. In a statement, he said, quote, 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.