Harriet Dillon sent letters to state election officials declaring them under investigation and demanding they preserve 2024 election records.
Posted by The Lawfare Podcast, Checked
- Sources
- 2 support5 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
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The Lawfare PodcastSep 14, 2026
Sources confirm DOJ sent letters in September 2026 to officials in 29 states and D.C. telling them to preserve 2024 election records, and one letter told Utah's Lt. Gov. she was "under investigation".
Our two reads of who says this, and how, disagree, so it counts as the post's own claim.
What was said
… That said, I think there's already been some chaos caused. All right, well, speaking of people who are adding chaos to the elections process, Harriet Dillon has sent letters to a variety of state elections officials who have not buckled to her demands for state voter rolls, declaring that they are quote "under investigation" unquote and demanding that they preserve records from 2024. Eric Columbus, you have been very quiet so far today. Ah, what is, um, ah, Assistant Attorney General Army Dillon up to here? Ah, it's, it's, it's not entirely clear. …
The Lawfare Podcast · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. An AP-derived report says the Justice Department sent letters to 29 states and D.C. instructing election officials not to destroy records from the 2024 election.[2][3]
Supports. The same report quotes one letter telling Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson that she is "under investigation," but it does not show that every recipient was told this.[2]
Context. Sources identify Harmeet Dhillon as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights and the signer of other DOJ voter-roll letters in July 2026, but none ties her to the 2024 preservation or under-investigation letters.[5][6][7]
Context. Politico reports that a later batch of record-retention letters to all 50 states was signed by acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter, which is a different batch from the September letters.[1][4]
Sources
7 sources: 1 fact-checker, 5 not rated, 1 tier 2
- 1Judge bars federal government from trying to separate ballotsapnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: context
- 2DOJ Directs States to Preserve 2024 Election Records As It ...washingtonsun.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 3Pentagon joins DOJ in unprecedented effort ahead of election dayfox23.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 4DOJ dangles legal threats over state election officials days ...politico.com · tier 2 · cited for: context
- 5DOJ warns election officials of possible criminal charges over voter ...san.com · not rated · cited for: context
- 6DOJ’s Dhillon says states have ‘homework to do’ ahead of midtermswashingtonexaminer.com · not rated · cited for: context
- 7EXHIBIT Aag.state.mn.us · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- 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.True
- The Justice Department sent letters to election officials in every state threatening them over non-citizen voting.True
- In July, Harmit Dillon, head of the Civil Rights Division in the DOJ, threatened state election officials with criminal prosecution if any non-citizens cast a ballot in their state.True
- The Justice Department sent a letter to Michigan demanding the state turn over all evidence relating to the 2024 election in Wayne County.Mixed
- The Department of Justice sent a letter to state election officials last week instructing them to hold onto evidence.True