Senators call out DOJ’s quiet removal of long-standing election prosecution manual ahead of 2026 midterms
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action and Federal Rights, led 21 Senate colleagues in demanding answers over the Trump Administration’s decision to remove the most recent version of the Federal Prosecution of Election Offenses manual from the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) website without explanation.
In their letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, the Senators highlighted the alarming actions taken by the Administration regarding election interference, emphasizing that the removal of the manual from the DOJ website further prompts questions of President Trump’s election interference efforts. Of particular concern, the previous edition of the manual dating from 2017 stated that DOJ prosecutors should not seize voting materials until after an election had been certified.
“The manual published by the Public Integrity Section of the Criminal Division has been easily publicly accessible on the Department’s Election Crimes Branch website in both Democratic and Republican Administrations,” wrote the Senators. “During President Trump’s first term, the manual was accompanied by a memorandum describing the Department’s longstanding election non-interference policy. While the manual underscores the importance of deterrence as the objective served by federal prosecutions of individuals who commit federal crimes in connection with an election, it also makes clear that ‘this deterrence is achieved by public awareness of the Department’s prosecutive interest in, and prosecution of, election fraud—not through interference with the process itself.’”
The Senators questioned Acting Attorney General Blanche on the Administration’s motivations for removing the manual from the DOJ website and any efforts to restore it. They further requested clarification from the Administration to understand any outside influences or partisan political motives. The oversight letter asked whether revisions will be included and if Trump’s allies will contribute to those revisions.
The removal of this DOJ guidance comes as the Administration has threatened election takeover efforts which will result in voter suppression across the country, especially in this year’s midterm elections. The Senators further warned that the removal of the manual paves the way for politically motivated legal actions by the Trump Administration in advance of the midterm elections.
“While the Department’s ongoing voter roll lawsuits are failing across the country, we are concerned that those efforts, which were calculated to compel states into inaccurately purging voters, may be the pretext for more meritless pre- and post-election challenges, including interfering with election certification,” continued the Senators. “Similarly, unsubstantiated claims by DOJ leadership of ‘tens of thousands noncitizens on voter rolls’ are reckless, as time and again, those claims have been refuted by findings that many individuals are falsely identified as noncitizens, and the extremely rare appearance of noncitizen registrants on the voter rolls or the even more extremely rare cases of noncitizen voters are often due to bureaucratic errors or misunderstandings about eligibility, as opposed to intentional fraud.”
In addition to Padilla, Durbin, and Whitehouse, the letter was signed by Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Angus King (I-Maine), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).
As Ranking Member of the Senate Rules Committee with oversight over federal elections, Padilla has consistently challenged the Trump Administration’s illegal election takeover efforts. Padilla introduced the Absentee and Mail Voter Protection Act, which would place restrictions on the Administration’s attempts to implement any unlawful voter restrictions. In February, Padilla held a spotlight forum on stopping Trump’s attempts to take over federal elections, the third in the series titled “Protecting the Future of American Democracy.”
The full letter is available here and below:
Dear Acting Attorney General Blanche:
We write regarding the Department of Justice’s (DOJ or Department) decision to remove the Federal Prosecution of Election Offenses manual, now in its eighth edition, from the Department’s website without explanation.
In the context of other alarming actions taken by the Trump Administration’s Department of Justice, including pursuing politically-motivated investigations at the direction of the White House; implementing drastic changes to the longstanding mission of the Civil Rights Division’s Voting Section; suing 30 states for unrestricted access to their voter rolls; and making unprecedented demands for ballots, election equipment, and names of election workers, the removal of this manual continues to raise the alarm about DOJ’s involvement in the upcoming midterm elections for partisan political purposes. We urge you to confirm the Department’s adherence to the principles outlined in the manual and be transparent about what, if any, changes the Department is making to this longstanding policy to protect elections from political interference.
The manual published by the Public Integrity Section of the Criminal Division has been easily publicly accessible on the Department’s Election Crimes Branch website in both Democratic and Republican Administrations. During President Trump’s first term, the manual was accompanied by a memorandum describing the Department’s longstanding election non-interference policy. While the manual underscores the importance of deterrence as the objective served by federal prosecutions of individuals who commit federal crimes in connection with an election, it also makes clear that “this deterrence is achieved by public awareness of the Department’s prosecutive interest in, and prosecution of, election fraud—not through interference with the process itself.” The Amundson Memo similarly provides clear directives reaffirming guidance provided under former Attorney General William Barr that prosecutors and investigators “may never select the timing of public statements (attributed or not), investigative steps, criminal charges, or any other action in any matter or case for the purpose of affecting any election, or for the purpose of giving an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate or political party.”
The manual is also still cited in the Justice Manual, a critical reference guide for U.S. Attorneys and other DOJ prosecutors, which states:
Where a criminal or national security investigation during an election cycle is at issue, the Department must also be careful to adhere to longstanding policies regarding the timing of charges or taking overt investigative steps. See, e.g., U.S. Dept. of Justice, Federal Prosecution of Election Offenses 8-9, 84–85 (8th ed. 2017).
Recent reports have indicated that the number of attorneys in DOJ’s Public Integrity Section has been reduced from 36 to two. In addition, in early April, former Republican congressman Dan Bishop was appointed as the Department’s chief election fraud prosecutor with nationwide authority to pursue the President’s debunked claims of widespread voting fraud. Around that same time, you hired 2020 election conspiracist Joe DiGenova as Counsel to pursue politically motivated prosecutions, who has in turn apparently hired Kurt Olsen, a former White House election czar previously sanctioned for misleading courts in election cases.
Following these developments, we need to better understand the extent to which the Department’s investigations are being influenced by partisan political motives. Given Department leadership’s public enthusiasm for working with Republicans in Congress on issues related to elections, including agreeing to demands that DOJ bring legal action to force states to redraw congressional lines, even after citizens in their states have already voted, we expect complete answers to the following straightforward questions:
- Why was the most recent edition of the Federal Prosecution of Election Offenses manual taken down? Will you commit to restoring it to the DOJ website?
- If withdrawn for revisions, what revisions are being contemplated? Who at the Department is leading that process? What is the estimated date of completion?
- Has any DOJ employee, political appointee, or contractor involved in revising the Federal Prosecution of Election Offenses manual met with, including in a “personal capacity,” White House political staff, former White House political staff, Republican party officials, or outside organizations that work on election policy? If so, which ones, for which purposes?
- The Federal Prosecution of Election Offenses manual reaffirmed that “the federal prosecutor has no authority to send FBI Special Agents or Deputy U.S. Marshals to polling places,” and that “Department and FBI policy requires that any investigative action that involves intrusion by federal investigators into the area immediately surrounding an open polling place be approved by the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section.” Will the Public Integrity Section still have a role in reviewing any potential deployment of the FBI or U.S. Marshals to areas immediately surrounding polling locations in the upcoming midterm elections? If not, who at the Department will have a role in reviewing such deployments and under what standards?
While the Department’s ongoing voter roll lawsuits are failing across the country, we are concerned that those efforts, which were calculated to compel states into inaccurately purging voters, may be the pretext for more meritless pre- and post-election challenges, including interfering with election certification. Similarly, unsubstantiated claims by DOJ leadership of “tens of thousands” noncitizens on voter rolls” are reckless, as time and again, those claims have been refuted by findings that many individuals are falsely identified as noncitizens, and the extremely rare appearance of noncitizen registrants on the voter rolls or the even more extremely rare cases of noncitizen voters are often due to bureaucratic errors or misunderstandings about eligibility, as opposed to intentional fraud.
To be clear, any attempts by DOJ to file lawsuits to stop eligible voters from voting, their votes from being counted, or elections from being certified, will fail, but any attempts are still corrosive to public trust and confidence in our election administration and invite threats against nonpartisan election workers.
Against this backdrop, the absence of guidance from the Public Integrity Section on election noninterference appears to clear the way for politically-motivated legal actions by DOJ itself in the lead-up to and aftermath of the midterm elections. Accordingly, we request that you immediately confirm the Department’s adherence to longstanding, bipartisan policy of noninterference and comply with this request no later than June 22, 2026.
Sincerely,