Mark Wayne Mullen released a report claiming there were 16,000 illegal voters.
Posted by The Bulwark Daily, Checked
- Sources
- 4 support3 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 80%
The Bulwark DailySep 29, 2026
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin (the post's "Mark Wayne Mullen") publicly claimed in July 2026 that about 16,000 noncitizens were illegally on Nevada's voter rolls, with DHS's own press release giving 15,903; the claim is about the act of claiming, which is supported.
The guest disputes this claim, but we rate it true. That counts against the post like a false claim, and on the guest's own record.
What was said
… You saw Secretary Lutnick, which I am being very careful to say correctly, had that big census report that he said was going to find thousands of non-citizen voters flop. Everyone could see through the fake statistics on that almost immediately. You then had Mark Wayne Mullen come out with another separate report more recently, where he was saying, Oh, we have 16,000 illegal voters, another flop. That number went down to zero. And so there's been these attempts to try to set this up. It's not working. …
The Bulwark Daily · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. A DHS press release from July 17, 2026 says Mullin's letters cited a preliminary review finding up to 15,903 non-citizens registered to vote in Nevada, described as illegally on the rolls.[1]
Supports. A September 2026 Senate letter states that Mullin claimed around 16,000 noncitizens illegally registered to vote in Nevada.[2]
Supports. Multiple outlets, including the Las Vegas Sun and The New Republic, report that DHS put the Nevada figure near 16,000 (15,903) in July before it was later revised down.[3][4]
Context. The figure was later revised by DHS to 185 and then reported as zero by Nevada officials, who said the 185 listed individuals were all citizens; the post's "went down to zero" point is supported by these sources.[3][5][6]
Context. DHS claimed registration of noncitizens, not confirmed illegal voting; the claim's "illegal voters" wording is a looser characterization of the registration allegation.[1][7]
Sources
7 sources: 2 primary, 5 not rated
- 1DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin Sends Letters to Secretaries of State Warning About Non-Citizens on Voter Rollsdhs.gov · primary source · cited for: supports, context
- 21 September 25, 2026 The Honorable Markwayne Mullin ...hsgac.senate.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
- 3From 16,000 to 185 to zero: Trump's claims of illegal voting in Nevada fizzlelasvegassun.com · not rated · cited for: supports, context
- 4DHS Witch Hunt Falls Apart as It Can't Name a Single Noncitizen Voternewrepublic.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 5What Happened to the 16,000 Nevada Noncitizen Voters ...americandemocracyminute.org · not rated · cited for: context
- 6House Democrats demand answers about potential Trump disenfranchisement effortsms.now · not rated · cited for: context
- 7Editorial: Trump returns to old theme with voting grievancesislandpacket.com · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- Markwayne Mullin discovered at least 200,000 non-citizens registered to vote across four states.False
- Donald Trump and DHS Secretary Mark Wayne Mullen claimed they uncovered hundreds of thousands of non-citizens registered to vote.True
- The federal government claimed there were 16,000 ineligible voters in Nevada, but the final count was zero.Mixed
- Secretary of Homeland Security Mark Wayne Mullen threatened election officials with criminal prosecution if they did not put Trump's election changes into effect.True
- The Census Bureau released a report claiming that 24,000 noncitizens voted in the 2020 election.True