Newsom warns Trump against election interference; deploys lawyers to key California districts

WASHINGTON, DC: Amid President Donald Trump’s efforts to investigate alleged voter fraud and his administration’s lawsuit seeking to set aside roughly 20,000 ballots in California over claims that they may have been cast by noncitizens, Gov. Gavin Newsom has pushed back against the president.

Newsom has announced plans to deploy election lawyers and trained volunteers in key California congressional districts as Democrats raise concerns about possible federal interference in the electoral process.

Newsom to deploy election lawyers in California amid fears of federal intervention

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced Thursday, Oct 29, that he would deploy election lawyers and trained volunteers in several California districts to help protect the electoral process against potential federal interference.

“A warning to Donald Trump: I’m deploying election lawyers to key battleground districts in California to protect every vote,” Newsom wrote on social platform X.

“And I just made it a FELONY to illegally seize ballots,” he added.

In a press release, Newsom said, “A federal badge is not a license to intimidate voters or interfere with an election.”

According to the governor’s office, nearly 1,000 trained volunteers are expected to be stationed in California’s 6th, 13th, 22nd, 45th and 48th congressional districts on Tuesday, November 3, with teams remaining for as long as necessary.

The initiative will include more than 800 poll observers, 134 attorneys and 54 hotline operators, with additional coverage planned for competitive congressional districts.

Federal courts reject Trump administration's bid to block 20,000 disputed ballots

A federal appeals court lashed out at the federal administration for directing election officials and pressed the DOJ attorney over the credibility of the department’s claim that there are 20,000 noncitizens on California’s voter roll.

The Judge, earlier, observed that California appears to have legal authority to handle the election process on its own.

Judge Mark Bennett also noted that if Congress has passed a law prohibiting non-citizens from voting in Federal and local elections, the federal government can’t regulate California’s voting system.

In the latest hearing, the court allowed the state to count 20,000 mail-in ballots that the Trump administration tried to say were likely from noncitizens.

Before the appeals court decision, Trump attacked California officials regarding mail-in ballots, saying on Truth Social that “they will all go to jail for a long period of time” if officials count fraudulent ballots.

He also stated that he believed California has “very very corrupt elections” and if the state “had an honest vote count … I would have won it by a lot.”