The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against California claiming there are 20,000 non-citizens on the state's voter rolls.
Posted by The John Phillips Show, Checked
- Sources
- 5 support3 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 93%
The John Phillips ShowOct 17, 2026
The Justice Department sued California on October 15, 2026, and its complaint claims that more than 20,000 likely noncitizens are registered to vote in the state. The claim describes what the lawsuit alleged, not whether the allegation is true, and California officials dispute it.
What was said
… Yes, Babathibanta, our attorney general, sat down with Ashley Zavala at K c r a three to talk about his one hundredth lawsuit against this federal government and was asked about the latest lawsuit. This was on yesterday with Ashley Zavala on K c r a three. The Trump administration also filed a lawsuit today against California, this one claiming that there are 20,000 people on the state's voter rolls who are non citizens. What's your response to that? Completely unimpressed. We think that the case is completely without legal merit, without factual basis. I think his hair got whiter just from the week before, just from the commercial break. …
The John Phillips Show · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. The DOJ's own press release says it sued California after determining that more than 20,000 people who are likely aliens are registered to vote in the state.[2]
Supports. Reuters, Politico, CNN and USA Today all report that the Justice Department filed suit on October 15 over a list of about 20,000 people it alleges may be noncitizens registered to vote.[1][3][4][5]
Context. The 20,000 figure is disputed: California officials say the list is unreliable, and Judge Carter declined to block counting of the ballots on October 29. This does not change whether the lawsuit made the claim.[6][7][8]
Context. The extraction names the Department of Justice where the post says 'the Trump administration'. The sources identify the DOJ as the plaintiff, so this is a faithful resolution of the referent, not an addition.[2][3]
Sources
8 sources: 1 fact-checker, 1 primary, 3 tier 2, 3 not rated
- 1Trump administration takes California ballot fight to Supreme Courtreuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
- 2United States Sues California After Determining More Than 20,000 Likely Noncitizens Are Registered to Vote in the Golden Statejustice.gov · primary source · cited for: supports, context
- 3DOJ sues California, demands it purge voter rolls for ...politico.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports, context
- 4Trump admin files ‘long shot’ lawsuit after California wouldn ...cnn.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports
- 5DOJ sues California over alleged non-citizens on voter rollsusatoday.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 6Judge declines to block California from counting alleged noncitizen voters’ ballots in DOJ lawsuitnbcnews.com · tier 2 · cited for: context
- 7DOJ loses new appeal for order purging 20000 `suspect' ...nbclosangeles.com · not rated · cited for: context
- 8States push back on Trump's noncitizen voting claimsabcnews.com · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
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