Sunday-night democracy special: CBS News reported that the Trump administration’s election investigations have expanded weeks before the midterms, including federal pressure on states for voter-roll data, scrutiny of voting systems, and planned deployment of more than 1,000 election observers and monitors. Because apparently the way to calm people down is to arrive with a clipboard, a badge, and the general vibe of a tow-truck operator circling Revere Beach.
The report includes an interview with Justice Department Civil Rights Division chief Harmeet Dhillon, who said the department is pursuing thousands of possible noncitizen-voting cases. Federal law bars noncitizens from voting in federal elections; CBS also reported that actual instances are rare, while the department has charged more than 100 noncitizens with illegal voting since the second Trump term began.
The immediate mess is California. The Justice Department filed suit on October 15, alleging that roughly 20,000 people it considers likely noncitizens were registered and sent mail ballots. The department’s own complaint describes that conclusion as the result of federal-agency matching and investigation, not a court finding. California Secretary of State Shirley Weber said her office was ordered to review an unspecified list within 48 hours but was not provided that list; Los Angeles County received material on a password-protected thumb drive with the password on a sticky note. That’s not election administration, pal. That’s a CB-radio swap meet behind a Danvers sub shop.
California says the federal government has not supplied its methodology or evidence for earlier, larger claims about noncitizens on the rolls, and argues the campaign risks chaos and distrust. The DOJ says California refused to cooperate with an effort to identify ineligible registrants. Those are competing claims, and the underlying California case is still a lawsuit—not proof that 20,000 ineligible ballots exist, never mind were cast or counted. Keep the onion rings away from the certainty machine.
Sources
- https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-election-investigations-faith-in-voting-60-minutes/
- https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1466286/dl
- https://www.sos.ca.gov/administration/news-releases-and-advisories/2026-news-releases-and-advisories/california-secretary-state-shirley-n-weber-phd-issues-statement-response-us-department-justice-letter
From the Dick Bulger channel
No new channel videos landed in this 12-hour window.
Featured image: Official portrait of Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson.png by Cabin1949, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
