'Instant classic': State election chief gives Trump DOJ a constitutional spelling lesson

Oregon’s top election official answered a Justice Department warning letter with a reminder about the law, and a correction.

On Thursday, R. Trent McCotter, the acting deputy attorney general, sent a letter telling Oregon officials to keep ballots, registration forms and other election records for 22 months after the Nov. 3 election, as federal law requires, or risk fines or prison time, The Oregonian reported. The letter was addressed to “Tobias Reed.” Similar letters reportedly went to election officials in all 50 states.

Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read responded Friday.

“As a fully vote-by-mail state, our election has been well underway for weeks,” Read wrote, noting that more than 1 million Oregonians had already voted. “In Oregon, we take our responsibility to protect free and fair American elections seriously. We follow the law, the Oregon Constitution, and the Constitution of the United States of America. The federal government should do the same.”

Then he got to the misspelling.

“As secretaries of state across the country know, effective election administration requires professionalism, competency, and attention to detail,” Read wrote. “It is in that spirit that I will point out to you that my name is spelled R-E-A-D, as in ‘read the Constitution.’ Please update your contact information for me accordingly.”

He signed off with a phrase that echoes one of Trump’s own: “Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

PBS News correspondent Liz Landers shared the letter on X. Robert Kelner, an election law attorney, called it “an instant classic.”

The exchange comes as the Trump administration ramps up its scrutiny of state elections. It has announced federal election monitors for several states, including Oregon, and is fighting high-profile legal battles in California and Alaska. Federal courts have dealt the administration a string of losses in recent days, including a ruling Thursday that barred it from forcing California to set aside more than 20,000 ballots.

This letter is an instant classic.
— Robert Kelner (@robkelner) October 31, 2026