Justice Department Subpoenas Los Angeles County Election Officials Ahead of Nov. 4 Court Date

The U.S. Justice Department has issued subpoenas to employees of the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder, ordering them to appear on Nov. 4, the day after the election, in an escalation of federal scrutiny of California election administration. Copies of three subpoenas, sent Oct. 21 and Oct. 24, were obtained by the Associated Press. They seek records and communications tied to letters federal officials sent in July and October to state election officials alleging noncitizens are on California's voter rolls. They also seek information on the office's methods for screening for unlawful voting by noncitizens and on efforts to prevent such votes from being counted. A person familiar with the matter said all four U.S. attorneys in California were issuing subpoenas. A letter with one subpoena cites a criminal investigation by Homeland Security Investigations but gives no specifics. Receiving a subpoena does not necessarily make someone a target. County registrar Dean Logan said threats and intimidation have no place in elections. Reports also said the move came a day after a federal judge denied the DOJ's bid to bar California from counting ballots from voters whose citizenship is questioned.

HuffPost, running the AP report, leads with the escalation and the documents themselves: dates, the court appearance, the records sought and the Homeland Security letter. It features Logan's warning about intimidation and notes that a subpoena does not make someone a target. The Washington Examiner, citing reports by the New York Times and Bloomberg, leads with election officials who have refused to set aside mail-in ballots tied to up to 20,000 suspected noncitizens. It adds the denial by a Clinton-appointed judge, describes the subpoenas as federal grand jury subpoenas and says the administration is applying extraordinary pressure less than a week before Election Day. It relays the DOJ's argument that counting such ballots before verifying citizenship could dilute lawful votes, and quotes Logan criticizing the DOJ's confrontational approach while saying officials follow laws barring noncitizen voting. Both sides agree on the Nov. 4 date, the Los Angeles registrar's office as recipient and Logan's objections. The left omits the judge's ruling and the 20,000 figure in its opening, while the right omits the all-four-U.S.-attorneys detail and the note on what a subpoena me