The Justice Department official leading the Trump administration’s fight over California’s mail ballots isn’t from the division that usually handles voting cases. He runs its criminal side. A new report says that choice may be the point.
R. Trent McCotter is the acting deputy attorney general, and he oversees both criminal and civil litigation. Democracy Docket reported Saturday that his role “highlights what looks to be a troubling escalation in the department’s voter suppression strategy.”
The report said the move “suggests DOJ is aiming to intimidate election officials by suggesting the California ballots issue is a criminal matter.” It added that it “signals the department may be looking to lay the groundwork to obtain a criminal warrant to seize ballots.”
On Thursday, the DOJ sued to stop California from counting mail ballots from about 20,000 voters the federal government flagged as “likely noncitizens.” McCotter’s name is at the top of the complaint. Nobody from the Civil Rights Division is listed, and that includes Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general who leads it. That division has typically handled the department’s voting cases.
One other official is named: Andrew Darlington, counsel to the assistant attorney general. He previously ran Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Office of Election Crimes and Security, which was set up to prosecute alleged illegal voting.
On Friday, McCotter sent a letter to Los Angeles County officials. He warned that they could become “aiders and abettors to a federal crime” if they knowingly counted ballots from people on the government’s list.
“The legal consequences for either facilitating or ignoring a federal crime are significant,” McCotter wrote.
The DOJ’s own lawsuit describes those voters only as “likely noncitizens.” It doesn’t say they’ve been confirmed as ineligible to vote.
President Donald Trump promoted the letter on social media.
“They will all go to jail for a long period of time,” he wrote.
The Democratic National Committee raised the same worry in a separate federal case this week. Because McCotter supervises the Criminal Division, the DNC argued, his earlier threat of emergency action “appears to be a plausible threat that DOJ will attempt to engage in warrant-based ballot seizure.”
The DOJ hasn’t yet announced any plans to seize ballots. Its Criminal Division told the DNC it found no records on the subject. The FBI and DOJ leadership offices are still searching.
McCotter is deeply tied to the conservative legal movement. He’s listed as a contributor to Project 2025. He also represented Steve Bannon in his failed Supreme Court bid to stay out of prison, and One America News in the defamation case Smartmatic brought over the outlet’s 2020 election claims.
The DOJ didn’t respond to Democracy Docket’s questions about McCotter’s role.
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