Judge orders Trump administration to stop threatening election officials with criminal charges
Voters at an early voting polling place Wednesday, in Minneapolis, Minn.Stephen Maturen / GettyShareAdd NBC News to GoogleBy Gary GrumbachA federal judge issued a sweeping order Friday night blocking the Trump administration from threatening or intimidating election officials amid pressure tactics used by the administration in the weeks leading up to next week’s midterm elections.
The eight-page order prohibits any action that may “threaten, intimidate or coerce state or local elections officials or workers to demand that they halt processing the ballots of any registered voter solely on the basis that the ballot belongs to an individual alleged by [the administration] to be ineligible to vote.”
U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson, who’s based in California, wrote, “In the lead-up to the election, high-ranking DOJ and DHS officials have engaged in a campaign to intimidate, threaten, and coerce state and local officials and employees who are engaged in administering the ongoing midterm 2026 election.”
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The judge’s order extends through Nov. 16, nearly two weeks after Election Day.
Gary GrumbachGary Grumbach is an NBC News legal affairs reporter, based in Washington, D.C.
