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California officials won’t open DOJ drive with alleged noncitizen voter records — here’s their excuse

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Cite

Hoge, R. (2026, October 15). California officials won’t open DOJ drive with alleged noncitizen voter records — here’s their excuse. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/10/14/opinion/california-wont-open-non-citizen-voter-list-heres-their-excuse/

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

New York Post · collected 2026-10-15 · by Roxanne Hoge

Quick Summary

California Attorney General Rob Bonta has refused a request from the Trump administration to investigate alleged noncitizen voters using data provided on a secure flash drive from the Department of Justice. In response to criticism, Bonta called the request "desperate and embarrassing." Dean Logan, LA County's registrar-recorder, cited data privacy concerns as reasons for not accessing the drive. The article criticizes California’s lax voter registration practices and questions the state’s commitment to election integrity while highlighting perceived hypocrisy regarding how other nations manage elections efficiently.
Written by AI on 2026-10-15, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

As of October 30, 2026, the Trump Justice Department has issued subpoenas to California election workers in Los Angeles County as part of a criminal investigation into alleged voting by non-citizens, escalating its battle with the largest US state over electoral integrity. On October 15, the Justice Department sued California in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, alleging that more than 20,000 noncitizens are unlawfully registered to vote and have received mail-in ballots. The lawsuit followed a letter from Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter on October 14, demanding that state officials review a list of suspected non-citizens by noon the next day. California has questioned the reliability of the federal government's immigration data and argued that states administer elections under the U.S. Constitution. A federal judge in California had previously rejected a request to set aside ballots for voters on the disputed list, further complicating the legal battle over voter eligibility.

Written for “Trump DOJ Subpoenas California Officials Over Voting Probe” on 2026-10-30, grounded in this article and the 67 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Trump DOJ Subpoenas California Officials Over Voting Probe
Politics · 68 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans strongly right and hedges 12% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Toronto Star
Hedges 0 of 2 claims Outlet record 64/100
Fox News
Hedges 5 of 27 claims Outlet record 70/100
“Article A covers a nationwide DOJ crackdown in multiple states, while Article B focuses specifically on California's response to the DOJ request for noncitizen voter records.”
NBC News
Hedges 3 of 26 claims Outlet record 60/100
CBS News
Hedges 0 of 2 claims Outlet record 66/100
“Article A discusses California officials refusing to comply with a DOJ request, while Article B reports on the DOJ suing California for failing to provide voter information. These describe different stages of an ongoing issue.”
The Hindu
Hedges 1 of 11 claims Outlet record 77/100
“Article A discusses California officials refusing a DOJ request related to noncitizen voter records, while Article B reports on specific charges and arrests in an election fraud case involving Indian nationals.”
CBS News
⚖️ Leans right further left than this Hedges 6 of 62 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of a broader issue related to alleged noncitizen voting but do not describe the same specific incident.”
Times of India
⚖️ Leans right further left than this Hedges 2 of 18 claims Outlet record 59/100
“Article A discusses California officials refusing to comply with DOJ's request for voter records, while Article B reports on a lawsuit filed by the DOJ against California over suspected noncitizen voters.”
Washington Examiner
Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 70/100
“While both articles discuss the issue of alleged noncitizen voters in California, Article A focuses on California officials refusing a DOJ request to investigate, while Article B reports Trump's threat of jail time for election officials counting such ballots.”
Toronto Star
⚖️ Leans right further left than this Hedges 0 of 2 claims Outlet record 64/100
“The articles describe different aspects of an ongoing conflict between the Trump administration and California, but refer to distinct events: one about a refusal to open DOJ drive with voter records, and another about a warning regarding prosecution risks for processing ballots from suspected noncitizens.”
New York Post
⚖️ Leans right further left than this Hedges 4 of 19 claims Outlet record 66/100
“While both articles discuss the Trump administration's actions regarding suspected noncitizen voters in California, they describe different stages of the event: Article A focuses on the initial refusal by California officials to comply with the DOJ request, while Article B reports on the subsequent lawsuit filed against California.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
32
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
12%
4 of 32 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans strongly right
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
68
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-15 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 15208 article(s) · 35 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 35 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Roxanne Hoge
1 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 I find it embarrassing that this administration would engage in such conduct during an election.”
The only article under this byline in the corpus.

Topics

Angelenos California Jamaica LA County the US Department of Justice

Subjects

California GPE · 6× Dean Logan PERSON · 2× Jamaica GPE · 2× Rob PERSON · 2× the Department of Justice ORG · 2× Angelenos NORP · 1× LA County GPE · 1× Rob Bonta PERSON · 1× Trump PERSON · 1× the US Department of Justice ORG · 1×

Narrative

I also find it desperate to act as if a targeted, time-sensitive request, which is tied to specific ballots already in the pipeline under our universal mail-in voting system, is somehow akin to the Spanish Inquisition.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-15
🔮 I find it embarrassing that this administration would engage in such conduct during an election.”

Claims (32 extracted, 4 hedged)

It’s not a tough call. asserted
It → ’ → ?
LA County and other California jurisdictions should comply with the Trump administration’s reasonable request to investigate noncitizens on the local voter rolls. asserted
County → comply → rolls
But California Attorney General Rob Bonta disagrees. asserted
Bonta → disagree → ?
He had this to say: “I find it desperate. asserted
it → have → say
I find it embarrassing that this administration would engage in such conduct during an election.” asserted
administration → find → election
Sign up for the California Morning Report newsletter The biggest news, opinion and culture shaping California right now. Thanks for signing up! asserted
Sign → sign → California
Well, this immigrant-turned-naturalized citizen has thoughts as well. asserted
immigrant → turn → thoughts
I found it embarrassing that no one ever wanted me to prove who I was in the good old days when Angelenos still voted in neighborhood polling places. asserted
Angelenos → find → places
I find it rather desperate to claim that, although noncitizen voting is a crime, California — home to Silicon Valley and allegedly filled with top thinkers in every field — insists state and local officials can’t open a secure thumb drive with a list of alleged noncitizen voters. uncertain
officials → find → voters
I find it infuriating that the county of my birth, the island nation of Jamaica, is called “Third World” when it is capable of running elections quickly and efficiently. asserted
it → find → elections
Jamaica also uses indelible ink and voter ID to ensure that no one is double-dipping into the electorate. asserted
one → use → electorate
(Maybe Rob doesn’t know that an estimated 90 counties have used this method. asserted
counties → know → method
I also find it desperate to act as if a targeted, time-sensitive request, which is tied to specific ballots already in the pipeline under our universal mail-in voting system, is somehow akin to the Spanish Inquisition. asserted
which → find → Inquisition
The LA registrar-recorder, Dean Logan, also issued a statement, saying, “We have not accessed the drive because doing so would conflict with established data privacy and information security protocols. asserted
doing → issue → protocols
We do not consider the device a secure medium. … asserted
device → consider → ?
[A]ny action to remove a voter from eligibility must be based on verifiable information, not assertions of unconfirmed data matching. uncertain
action → remove → matching
Our voter rolls are the fruit of a poisoned tree that starts with giving driver’s licenses to illegal aliens, then turns the Department of Motor Vehicles into a machine for automatic voter registration. asserted
that → start → registration
The risks are compounded by turning government assistance programs — Medi-Cal, CalFresh, CalWORKs, WIC, General Assistance, and Covered California — into designated voter registration agencies. asserted
risks → compound → agencies
We hand out voter registrations like lollipops at the pediatrician’s office. asserted
We → hand → office
It’s also hard to take claims about “verifiable information and data privacy” seriously when they come from officials in a state that has tolerated data breaches and widespread fraud. uncertain
that → ’ → breaches
I’m all for safe and secure elections, and as chairman of the Republican Party of Los Angeles County, this is extra personal to me. asserted
this → ’m → me
It’s why I wrote an open letter to Attorney General Bonta, explaining that the mere appearance of shenanigans undermines democracy for all of us. asserted
appearance → ’ → us
Real investigations — even, and especially, those that reveal there is no problem — is the way to encourage confidence in the system, and voter participation. asserted
that → reveal → system
It’s also why I enumerated several irregularities from our recent primary in a letter I sent to the Department of Justice asking for election monitors for this election. asserted
I → ’ → election
People tell me every week that they receive excess ballots, thanks to California’s universal vote-by-mail system. asserted
they → tell → system
California officials claim that excess ballots are very rare. uncertain
ballots → claim → ?
(I always tell voters the same thing — to go directly to the registrar to correct the error.) asserted
I → tell → error
I am glad that the Department of Justice wants to clean our voter rolls. asserted
Department → want → rolls
Dean Logan should open the drive, perform the review, and hold the questionable ballots as requested. asserted
Logan → open → ballots
That would affirm the integrity of our elections. asserted
That → affirm → elections
Who wouldn’t want that? asserted
Who → want → that
You can find her on X at @RoxanneHoge. asserted
You → find → @RoxanneHoge
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