The Trump administration has sent fresh warnings of criminal prosecution to election officials nationwide, a day after a federal judge said threats against election workers “must stop,” Votebeat reported Friday.
The letters, dated Oct. 29 and signed by Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter, remind officials to preserve election records for 22 months after a federal election.
They warn that willfully failing to preserve records carries potential penalties of up to a year in prison and a $1,000 fine. They identify no particular violation or pending investigation, according to the report.
“Four days before Election Day, the DOJ is sending letters to election officials nationwide warning of criminal prosecution for failing to preserve election records,” Votebeat editorial director Jessica Huseman wrote on X.
Justin Levitt, a former Justice Department official, questioned the agency’s motives.
“Election officials know that they have an obligation to comply with this law — they know that real, real well — and this certainly looks like it’s meant to intimidate rather than to inform,” he said.
The mailing followed U.S. District Judge David O. Carter’s rebuke in a separate California dispute.
“These threats must stop,” he wrote Wednesday, rejecting the Trump DOJ’s effort to set aside ballots from roughly 20,000 voters flagged as suspected noncitizens.
Election experts questioned why the DOJ was issuing the nationwide reminder as officials prepared for Election Day.
“I have never seen the DOJ send this kind of letter across the country in the days before the election,” University of Kentucky election professor Joshua Douglas said.
While not inherently improper, Levitt, who also served as a White House voting rights adviser under President Joe Biden, still questioned both the scope and McCotter’s involvement.
“It’s super weird that the deputy sent this letter, and it’s super weird he sent the letter to everybody,” he said.
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