DOJ Official Pushes Trump’s Voter Fraud Agenda, Targets New Jersey Governor for Defending Democracy
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Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon is escalating the right-wing campaign against New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill, accusing her of knowing about alleged non-citizen voter registrations before she courageously called out President Trump’s baseless election lies. Dhillon threatened lawsuits against states that refuse to comply with the Justice Department’s partisan fishing expeditions.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, echoing the Trump administration’s relentless attacks on voting rights, told reporters that New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill was supposedly aware of an upcoming Department of Homeland Security report claiming over 35,000 potential non-citizens on the state’s voter rolls. Dhillon asserted that Sherrill “already knew that this revelation was forthcoming” when she bravely called President Donald Trump a liar after his July 16 speech, in which he peddled conspiracy theories about foreign interference and inflated non-citizen registration numbers in states led by Democrats.
Dhillon issued a thinly veiled threat, saying states that cooperate with the Justice Department’s dubious efforts would receive assistance, while those that resist could face legal action. She added, “If they won’t work with, we’ll sue them and we’ll still fix the problem,” making clear the administration’s intent to intimidate and coerce states into supporting their anti-democratic agenda.
After Trump’s baseless remarks, Sherrill joined 23 other Democratic governors in a powerful statement condemning the president’s lies and denouncing his attempts to undermine trust in elections. The statement, led by Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, rightly called Trump’s assertions “lies and conspiracy theories” and reaffirmed that elections remain “safe and secure.”
Dhillon continued to pressure governors to participate in the DOJ’s so-called investigations into election integrity, ignoring the reality that these efforts are designed to suppress votes and sow distrust. She gave Sherrill five business days to hand over voter-registration data, a deadline that expired on Tuesday. Sherrill, standing up for her constituents, told WCBS that she would not comply, highlighting that the federal government was trying to “weaponize” the issue instead of genuinely protecting election integrity.
When questioned about the accusation that she knew of the so-called motor-voter scandal, Sherrill’s spokesperson referenced her comments after visiting an Essex County grocery store, where she emphasized her administration’s commitment to an independent investigation and insisted that “Jerseyans deserve transparency.”
Other states, including Pennsylvania and New York, have also refused to bow to the DOJ’s overreach, citing crucial federal and state privacy protections. The department has a history of targeting officials in Democratic states with lawsuits over these manufactured controversies, including New Jersey Lieutenant Governor Dale Caldwell.