DOJ sues to block 20,000 LA County ballots as Trump warns officials of jail

The Department of Justice gave California and Los Angeles County 48 hours to confirm the citizenship of 20,000 flagged people, then filed a civil suit Thursday seeking a court order barring officials from counting ballots cast by those voters. A later DOJ letter warned election officials they could face criminal prosecution if they did not comply. President Donald Trump wrote in a social media post Friday evening that the officials "will all go to jail for a long period of time!!!"

The sequence matters more than any single step. The first letter, sent Tuesday to California Secretary of State Shirley Weber from acting deputy U.S. attorney general Trent McCotter, said the department had provided Los Angeles County officials with a password-protected thumb drive containing names the federal government believes are likely noncitizens who were sent ballots for the Nov. 3 election. California mails ballots to all registered voters. California Attorney General Rob Bonta slammed the letter.

The dispute is no longer only about voter registration lists. Federal authorities are seeking to block the counting of ballots already sent to voters, and the president has publicly raised jail time for state and county election officials. That combination — criminal exposure warnings plus a presidential jail threat — puts election administrators in the position of choosing between federal demands and state law, with the midterms weeks away.

The government has not shown, in the material described, evidence that the 20,000 flagged people are noncitizens. The claim is the administration's; the list is the administration's; the thumb drive is the administration's. McCotter said the Trump administration has charged 70 people in voting fraud cases as part of an ongoing operation, but the evidence does not establish how that operation relates to the California list.

What is established is the escalation: a letter, a 48-hour deadline, a civil suit, a criminal-exposure warning, and a presidential jail threat — all aimed not at registration rolls but at stopping live ballots from being counted in Los Angeles County. Whether a court blocks those ballots before Nov. 3 is now the central question. The officials have not been charged with a crime. The president's post is not a legal charge or a conviction.