The Justice Department charged 28 California residents with federal voting crimes on October 19, 2026.
Posted by What A Day, Checked
- Sources
- 5 support
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 95%
What A DayOct 22, 2026
The DOJ charged 28 people in California with federal voting-related crimes, announced October 19, 2026, as confirmed by the DOJ press release, AP, Reuters, NPR and NYT. The sources describe them as green card holders (lawful permanent residents) living in California, which fits the claim's word 'residents'.
The guest relays this claim without endorsing it. It counts as passed on, not against the post.
What was said
… Joining me is California Attorney General Rob Bonta. Attorney General Bonta, welcome back to What a Day. Thanks for having me, Jane. Good to see ya. So let's start with the most recent news impacting California voters. On October 19, the Justice Department said it charged 28 California residents with federal voting crimes. The DOJ says that this can improve their figure that there are 20,000 non-citizen voters in the state of California. You called the number of people charged a quote drop in the bucket of 23 million registered voters. …
What A Day · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. The DOJ's own press release, dated Monday, October 19, 2026, says federal law enforcement charged 28 total foreign nationals in criminal complaints with federal crimes including fraudulent voter registration and voting.[3]
Supports. AP and NPR both report that the Justice Department charged 28 people in California on October 19 with election-related crimes, with 11 arrested that day.[1][4]
Supports. The New York Times reports that DOJ officials said they had charged 28 California residents with violating federal voting laws, and Reuters confirms the 28 charges were announced October 19.[2][5]
Context. The sources say all 28 are lawful permanent residents rather than U.S. citizens, and the charges include false statements on naturalization applications and fraudulent voter registration. This is consistent with the claim's 'residents' wording.[3][5]
Context. The extraction is faithful to the post, which says the same figure and date. No source contradicts the count or the date.[1][3]
Sources
5 sources: 2 fact-checkers, 1 primary, 2 tier 2
- 1Justice Department charges more than 2 dozen in ...apnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports, context
- 2Trump administration loses push to block California votes from alleged noncitizensreuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
- 3Justice Department Charges 28 Foreign Nationals in California for ...justice.gov · primary source · cited for: supports, context
- 4DOJ charges 28 in California with voting crimes as election tensions escalatenpr.org · tier 2 · cited for: supports
- 5DOJ Charges 28 California Residents With Voting-Related ...nytimes.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports, context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- The Department of Justice charged 28 people in California with voting illegally or unlawfully registering to vote in federal elections.True
- The Justice Department has charged 28 people in California with election crimes.True
- The Department of Justice has charged 28 California voters with being noncitizens.True
- The Justice Department charged 28 lawful permanent residents in California with illegal voting, fraudulent registrations, and false statements as part of Operation Protect the Vote.True
- The Department of Justice filed charges against more than two dozen people for voting crimes in previous elections.True