Power Grab/Fire anyone who can stop him
DOJ warns 30 states of “civil and criminal sanctions” over their 2024 election records
The letters went to all 30 states the department is suing for voter rolls, and told them they are under investigation.
What happened
On September 4, 2026, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division sent litigation-hold letters to all 30 states it is suing for unredacted voter rolls. The letters ordered them to preserve every record from the 2024 election and warned that “failure to preserve relevant data may constitute spoliation of evidence, which may subject you to civil and criminal sanctions.”
The letters also told the states they are under investigation for violating the National Voter Registration Act and the Help America Vote Act. A DOJ spokeswoman confirmed the mailing to the New York Times on September 10, 2026.
Utah’s Republican lieutenant governor, Deidre Henderson, said she learned her office was under “investigation” from the letter. She runs her state’s elections. At that point the department had lost all 23 voter-roll cases decided.
Who benefited
The Justice Department, having lost in civil court everywhere, acquired a new lever over the same officials: the threat of a criminal case for mishandling records. The letters cost nothing and reached every state at once.
Who wanted something
The Civil Rights Division, led by Harmeet Dhillon, sent the letters as the demand for the rolls stalled in court. Attorney General Todd Blanche and Dhillon have said a Supreme Court appeal is only “a possibility.” The White House wants the rolls before November.
Who lost out
The secretaries of state and county clerks of 30 states, Republican and Democratic, now administer an election under written notice that the federal government may prosecute them. Henderson learned by mail that her office was under investigation.
Why it matters
The civil demand for the rolls failed 23 times, and one mailing sent a criminal warning to every state election chief the department was suing. The letters reached all 30 states at once, including those where the department had already lost.
Sources The New York TimesDemocracy DocketThe Salt Lake TribuneDeseret News