The Justice Department sent a letter to Michigan demanding the state turn over all evidence relating to the 2024 election in Wayne County.
Posted by Badlands Media, Checked
- Sources
- 4 contradict2 support2 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 60%
Badlands MediaSep 16, 2026
The DOJ did send a letter demanding all 2024 Wayne County ballots, ballot receipts, and envelopes, but it was addressed to the Wayne County Clerk, not to the state of Michigan.
A detail. The sources confirm the gist; the verdict faults a detail such as a date, number or wording.
What was said
… They sought information like cell phone numbers and personal addresses and email addresses on these Fulton County poll workers. The Justice Department wrote a letter to Michigan demanding that they turn over all their evidence relating to the 2024 election in Wayne County, Michigan. The FBI, under Cash Patel, sent agents to knock on the doors of people who worked the polls in 2020 in Milwaukee. …
Badlands Media · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Contradicts. The letter was addressed to Wayne County Clerk Cathy Garrett, not to the state of Michigan or its officials, so the claim that the DOJ demanded the state turn over the evidence misidentifies the recipient.[2][3][4]
Contradicts. Wayne County responded that it is not the legal custodian of the ballots, which are held by municipal clerks such as Detroit's, so the demand was directed at a body that does not hold the records.[5]
Supports. The April 14, 2026 letter from Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon demanded that Wayne County produce all 2024 federal election ballots (including absentee and provisional), ballot receipts, and ballot envelopes.[1][2][6]
Context. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel released the letter and, with Gov. Whitmer and Secretary of State Benson, called the request baseless, which is why the state is prominent in coverage even though the letter was not sent to it.[1][7][8]
Sources
8 sources: 1 fact-checker, 1 primary, 5 not rated, 1 tier 2
- 1Michigan refuses Trump administration demand for 2024 election ballotsreuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports, context
- 2DOJ Letter to Wayne County - State of Michiganmichigan.gov · primary source · cited for: contradicts, supports
- 3Michigan leaders denounce DOJ's request for 2024 election ballotsmichigandaily.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts
- 4Trump administration demands 2024 election ballots from Wayne County, Michiganvotebeat.org · not rated · cited for: contradicts
- 5Wayne County to DOJ: We can’t hand over ballots we don’t havebridgemi.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts
- 6Justice Department demands Michigan county turn over ...nbcnews.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports
- 7Justice Department demands 2024 election ballots from Wayne ...abcnews.com · not rated · cited for: context
- 8Michigan officials denounce DOJ demand for Wayne County's 2024 ...michiganpublic.org · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
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