The Department of Justice and U.S. Attorney Bill Isaley sent a letter and a thumb drive to Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters Dean Logan and California Secretary of State Shirley Weber alleging there are 20,000 illegal ballots in Los Angeles County.
Posted by The John Phillips Show, Checked
- Sources
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The John Phillips ShowOct 17, 2026
Multiple sources confirm that the DOJ sent Los Angeles County Registrar Dean Logan and Secretary of State Shirley Weber a letter with a password-protected thumb drive listing about 20,000 voters it says are likely noncitizens. The official is First Assistant U.S.
What was said
… Mm. Eight hundred two two two five two two two is a telephone number. One eight hundred two two two five two two two. Well, once again, the state of California and the federal government are going at it, this time over California's voter rolls. The DOJ and US. Attorney Bill Is saley have sent a letter and a thumb drive to the registrar of voters in Los Angeles County, Dean Logan, as well as the Secretary of State in the state of California, Shirley Weber, saying that there are 20,000 illegal ballots in Los Angeles County. That didn't reference any other counties in the state, but they say 20,000 people who are registered to vote, who got a ballot, should not be. The state of California immediately filed back, saying, we don't believe you. …
The John Phillips Show · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. Scripps reports that the October 13 DOJ letter to LA County and Secretary of State Weber included a password-protected thumb drive containing names of people the administration believes are likely non-citizens who were sent ballots.[4]
Supports. AP and 6abc report that the DOJ's demand concerned a password-protected thumb drive containing a list of 20,000 names that the federal government says are likely noncitizens who were sent ballots for the November election.[3][5]
Supports. Reuters reports that the DOJ letters were signed by Bilal Essayli, first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, and the Mercury News identifies him as Bill Essayli; the post's "Isaley" is a transcription variant of this name.[1][6]
Contradicts. The LA County attorneys and the California Secretary of State dispute the allegation, saying no credible evidence was provided and the letters contained errors, but these are interested parties rather than independent fact-checkers.[2][5][7]
Context. The DOJ's 20,000 figure refers to voters it calls "likely noncitizens" who were sent ballots, and the list reportedly spans the whole state, not only LA County, which the claim's wording does not reflect.[8][9]
Sources
9 sources: 2 fact-checkers, 2 tier 2, 5 not rated
- 1US Justice Dept demands California counties help identify suspected noncitizen votersreuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
- 2California election officials frustrated, rattled by DOJ demand to sequester 'noncitizen' ballotsapnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: contradicts
- 3California election officials frustrated, rattled by DOJ demand ... - PBSpbs.org · tier 2 · cited for: supports
- 4DOJ orders California counties to set aside ballots from ...scrippsnews.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 5Trump administration sues CA to block state from counting ...6abc.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts, supports
- 6In LA, a federal judge considers the DOJ’s request to block ...mercurynews.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 7LA County attorneys: No credible evidence of non-citizen votingspectrumlocalnews.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts
- 8DOJ charges 28 in California with voting crimes as election tensions escalatenpr.org · tier 2 · cited for: context
- 9Big assertions, sharp exchanges, little clarity define DOJ ...latimes.com · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- The U.S. Justice Department delivered a thumb drive containing a list of 20,000 names to Los Angeles County election officials with a 48-hour deadline to investigate them.True
- The Department of Justice provided the Los Angeles County Registrar's office with a password-protected thumb drive containing a list of names the federal government believes are likely non-citizens who were sent a vote-by-mail ballot.True
- The Department of Justice has requested that California segregate the ballots of the 20,000 individuals on the provided list and not count them until they are investigated.True
- The Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against California regarding the counting of 20,000 illegal ballots.True
- The Department of Justice delivered a thumb drive to Los Angeles County containing the names of 20,000 people on California's voter rolls who the federal government says are likely non-citizens.True