Justice Department subpoenas California election officials over voter rolls

The Justice Department has issued grand jury subpoenas to California election officials in a criminal investigation into the state's voter rolls, ABC7 Los Angeles reported. The subpoenas seek testimony Wednesday, the day after the election.

The subpoenas escalate a dispute over California election administration ahead of the midterms. The investigation concerns the Trump administration's claim that thousands of noncitizens are registered to vote in the state, an allegation the report does not establish as fact.

According to ABC7 Los Angeles, multiple people familiar with the matter told ABC News about the subpoenas. ABC News also examined subpoenas addressed to some employees of the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder. The report said subpoenas were issued Thursday and that some county employees had received them the previous week.

The subpoenas seek employee testimony and internal records concerning federal requests to California Secretary of State Shirley Weber about noncitizen voting. They also request records describing how election agencies screen for unlawful voting by noncitizens.

Earlier in October, the Justice Department threatened criminal prosecution for election workers who knowingly count ballots cast by noncitizens, according to the report. Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter outlined that position in a letter to Los Angeles officials.

In a separate court action, U.S. District Judge David Carter denied an emergency request to set aside about 20,000 ballots from people the administration alleged were likely noncitizens. In his Wednesday order, Carter criticized the federal government's attempt to pressure state and local authorities to depart from their election procedures.

Dean Logan, the Los Angeles County registrar-recorder/county clerk, said in a statement to ABC News that election officials were following state and federal law. He condemned threats and intimidation and criticized the Justice Department's approach.

The Justice Department declined to discuss the reported grand jury subpoenas. It said unlawful voting by noncitizens can be addressed through criminal prosecution.