Kyle Pfannenstiel, Idaho Capital Sun

Trump admin sues red state election official to force him to turn over sensitive vote

The Trump administration sued Idaho’s top election official after he declined to give the federal government access to sensitive personal information about 1 million Idaho registered voters.

Idaho secretary of state won’t give US Justice Department sensitive voter information

The U.S. Justice Department sued Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane on Wednesday, and asked a federal judge to force him to turn over the full voter data, which includes partial Social Security numbers and driver’s license numbers.

More than a month ago, McGrane declined the Justice Department’s demands for the voter data — even after the Justice Department has sued other states. In December, a Justice Department attorney threatened to sue Idaho if it didn’t turn over the data, according to a voicemail that the Idaho Capital Sun obtained in a public records request.

McGrane, a Republican who’s running for re-election, told the Justice Department in a February letter that he doesn’t believe his office is required under “a clear legal duty” to share Idaho’s full voter roll with the federal government.

“Idaho law strictly governs the disclosure of voter information. In the absence of a clear legal requirement that Idaho provide a copy of its complete, unredacted voter list, and in light of my responsibility to protect Idahoans’ personal information, my office will not provide the requested data,” McGrane wrote to the Justice Department in February.

The lawsuit marks the Justice Department’s 30th against states for not complying with its demands for voter data.

In a statement, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said many state election officials “are choosing to fight us in court rather than show their work.”

“The Justice Department will continue to fulfill its oversight role dutifully, neutrally, and transparently wherever Americans vote in federal elections,” Dhillon said. “Many state election officials, however, are choosing to fight us in court rather than show their work. We will continue to verify that all States are carrying out critical election integrity legal duties.”

In a statement Wednesday, McGrane said he’s confident “in Idaho’s elections and the efforts we’ve led to ensure secure and accessible elections.”

“Idahoans have confidence in how we run our elections,” McGrane told the Sun. “The county clerks and I are committed to ensuring that confidence continues into this year’s mid-term elections.”

After reviewing the citizenship status of all registered voters with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, McGrane said only 11 noncitizens were referred to the Justice Department for prosecution.

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How we got here: Justice Department says it sought info for election security

McGrane’s office already gave the Justice Department a copy of Idaho’s publicly available voter registration list, which scrubs that sensitive personal information, the Idaho Capital Sun previously reported.

The Justice Department has said it wants Idaho’s data to ensure election integrity.

But as the Trump administration has ramped up immigration enforcement, some fear how the federal government will use the data. A Justice Department attorney recently told a federal judge in Rhode Island that the Justice Department is sharing the voter data with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to look for noncitizens, Stateline reported.

Trump has falsely claimed that droves of noncitizens vote, a crime which is actually rare nationally and in Idaho.

In September, the U.S. Justice Department asked Idaho — like it had asked other states — to turn over its full voter registration records with identifiable, sensitive information on registered voters.

The Justice Department has sued 29 other states for refusing to turning over their voter registration lists with sensitive information, according to the Brennan Center. But federal judges dismissed the Justice Department’s lawsuits against Oregon, California and Michigan.

Idaho election officials have detailed to the Justice Department the state’s work to purge noncitizens from the state’s voter rolls. In a December email obtained by the Sun, an Idaho election official told federal officials that after verifying citizenship for all registered Idaho voters, the Secretary of State’s Office flagged about 30 possible noncitizens to be investigated.

The number of suspected noncitizens on Idaho’s voter roll referred to prosecution got even smaller from there. Idaho State Police referred about a dozen people to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which is part of the U.S. Justice Department, for possible prosecution, the state official wrote.

DOJ v. McGrane complaint 4-1-26

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Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com.

Ammon Bundy blocked from moving financial assets

An Idaho judge has blocked Ammon Bundy and others from moving financial assets in a new lawsuit in Gem County.

The lawsuit, brought by St. Luke’s Health System, alleges that Bundy has made fraudulent property transfers to evade collection of millions of dollars in damages awarded to the health system in its initial lawsuit against him, People’s Rights Network and his campaign for governor.

“Unless the Court reconsiders the ruling, the preliminary injunction will remain in place until the lawsuit is resolved, by motion or at trial,” attorney Erik Stidham, representing St. Luke’s Health System, told the Idaho Capital Sun in a text message.

Judge Brent Whiting initially temporarily blocked financial moves, but issued a more lasting preliminary injunction last Friday. Whiting issued the order two weeks after hearing about what St. Luke’s lawyers describe as a “sham” move by Bundy to sell his home to White Barn Enterprises, LLC, for one-quarter of its $1 million value and then continue to live in it under a five-year lease in his wife’s name. White Barn is managed by Bundy’s friend, Aaron Welling.

“Because there is substantial evidence supporting the relevant significant factors, the Court finds that there is a high likelihood of (St. Luke’s) Plaintiffs’ success on the merits of their claims,” Whiting wrote in a memo outlining his decision.

The preliminary injunction blocks Bundy, his wife Lisa Bundy, his campaign for governor and People’s Rights Network from:

Selling, transferring or conveying any real property;Transferring any ownership interests they hold in an entity;Causing an entity they hold an ownership interest in to transfer, sell or convey interest in real property or material assets;Transferring monetary assets from any banks;Incurring new material obligations.

White Barn Enterprises, LLC, which Bundy sold his home to, is only blocked from transferring or selling the home. The Bundys are allowed to spend up to $5,750 per month on living expenses and can pay the minimum on regular bills.

“It appears that Mr. Welling, acting for White Barn as the recipient of the Bundys’ Harvest Lane Property, is an insider, due to his close friendship with Ammon Bundy and his service as the treasurer of his campaign for governor,” Whiting wrote.

Whiting wrote that no cash was actually transferred to Bundy. White Barn’s payments have gone toward paying the mortgage owed by the Bundys, he wrote.

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Judge finalizes damages in first Bundy lawsuit; contempt trial delayed

Judge Nancy Baskin, who oversaw the jury trial in the first lawsuit against Bundy, issued a judgment last week slightly reducing the amount of jury-awarded damages Bundy, his associate Diego Rodriguez and groups linked to them must pay. Baskin reduced punitive damages owed to Roth from $7 million to $6,375,000 because it was more than three times higher than the compensatory damages awarded to St. Luke’s Health System CEO Chris Roth, which Idaho law does not allow.

St. Luke’s Health System and St. Luke’s Regional Medical Center are owed $19,125,000, Roth is owed $8.5 million and two other employees are owed a combined $24,250,000.

Bundy is being sued twice by St. Luke’s Health System.

Bundy and his associate Diego Rodriguez did not attend the two-week long jury trial in Ada County for the first lawsuit, where a jury ordered the two and groups linked to them to pay $52.5 million in damages to St. Luke’s Health System and three employees they defamed, or made false, damaging statements about in connection with their care for an infant related to Rodriguez.

The original lawsuit against Bundy, Rodriguez and groups linked to them revolved around their in-person protests and online messages targeting medical professionals and others after a primary care provider unaffiliated with the hospital contacted the state health department about the infant. That resulted in the infant being placed under temporary protective care.

Bundy has argued that the baby was healthy, but several doctors testified in court during the lawsuit trial last month that the baby showed signs of being malnourished, the Idaho Capital Sun previously reported.

Baskin also granted a request by Bundy to reschedule his contempt of court hearing in connection with the first lawsuit from its originally scheduled date of early October to mid-November. Bundy requested the court hearings be moved so he could harvest fruit.

Bundy appeared in court last month on contempt of court charges. Bundy is being charged with civil and criminal contempt for allegedly violating court orders issued by a previous judge in the case that required him to remove defamatory statements from the internet and to not intimidate witnesses in the lawsuit.

If convicted, he could face no more than up to six months in jail, Baskin ordered. The maximum penalty for each civil contempt penalty is $5,000 and five days in jail.

Bundy’s contempt trial is scheduled to start Nov. 13.

Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com. Follow Idaho Capital Sun on Facebook and Twitter.