The Department of Justice under Donald Trump has sent threatening letters to at least 30 top election officials in the states warning them they are under investigation.
Posted by Letters from an American, Checked
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Letters from an AmericanSep 13, 2026
The claim that the DOJ under Trump sent threatening letters to at least 30 top election officials warning they were under investigation is supported by the New York Times report of September 10, 2026, which other outlets including The Independent and The New Republic repeat with their own reporting.
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What was said
… of ballots for such a petty flaw shows what will likely happen if the Supreme Court lifts the injunction blocking the Postal Service from implementing the new rules it has put in place since Trump ordered such interference in a March executive order. On Thursday, September 10, Nick Corasaniti of The New York Times reported that the Department of Justice, or DOJ, under Trump, has sent threatening letters to at least 30 top election officials in the states, warning that those officials are currently under investigation and are subject to ongoing litigation, and so must not destroy any records relating to the 2024 election. As Corasaniti notes, the administration has sued 30 states for their voter lists and has lost 23 of the cases and won none. …
Letters from an American · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. The New York Times reported that the DOJ sent threatening letters to at least 30 top election officials across the country, warning that they were 'currently under investigation' and subject to 'ongoing litigation.'[2]
Supports. The Independent and The New Republic, both published September 10, 2026, independently report letters to election officials in 30 states describing them as under investigation and in ongoing litigation, and The Independent quotes Utah's Lt. Governor confirming receipt.[4][5]
Supports. Politico reports that DOJ letters signed by acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter were received by election officials in more than a dozen states, confirming the pattern of threatening letters to officials, though these October letters concerned record preservation and were sent to all 50 states.[3][6]
Context. Reuters reports that on October 30 a federal judge ordered the DOJ to stop threatening prosecution of state and local election officials who do not comply with its demands. This is a later development and does not change the state of affairs on the September 10 reporting date.[1][7]
Context. The NYT and other reports say it was unclear what the department was investigating and that the letters did not cite criminal statutes, so the 'under investigation' wording is the letters' own language rather than a described probe.[2][8]
Sources
8 sources: 1 fact-checker, 2 tier 2, 5 not rated
- 1Judge orders Trump administration to cease threats to prosecute election officialsreuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: context
- 2D.O.J. Escalates Threats to States in Battle for Election Recordsnytimes.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports, context
- 3DOJ dangles legal threats over state election officials days ...politico.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports
- 4Trump lost 23 legal battles over voter data. Now DOJ is demanding states hand it overindependent.co.uk · not rated · cited for: supports
- 5DOJ Threatens Charges Against State Officials Not Caving on Voter Datanewrepublic.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 6DOJ again warns election officials of potential criminal prosecution ...oregoncapitalchronicle.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 7US campaign enters final weekend as Alaska, California ballot fights heat uprmb.reuters.com · not rated · cited for: context
- 8DOJ escalates threats to states in battle for election records - The Boston Globebostonglobe.com · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
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