This week, the U.S. Department of Justice sent a letter to Wayne County demanding that county elections officials hand over “all ballots” from the 2024 election so the Trump administration can “ensure” federal election laws were not violated in the November 2024 election.
But this demand isn’t about election integrity – it’s about a weaponized DOJ trying to please a president who doesn’t want to be held accountable at the ballot box by voters tired of the chaos of his administration.
It’s also about the upcoming elections in November and in 2028, which he is working to discredit by sowing doubt as to the security and fairness of the process.
It’s not going to work with us, and it’s not going to hold up in court.
In fact, Michigan courts have already rejected the stale fraud claims cited in the DOJ’s letter. The court dismissed the lawsuit referenced in the letter challenging the 2020 election, calling the allegations “incorrect and not credible.”
This is how President Donald Trump tries to get his way – by targeting law firms, universities or local clerks, demanding that federal law enforcement issue outrageous, unlawful demands to strongarm his opponents into submission.
And, unfortunately, he’s had some success with these tactics.
Michigan won’t back down
The chief election officials in at least 12 states have acquiesced to this federal pressure, handing over their complete voter lists, including the personally identifying information of millions of their own voters.
In January, the Trump’s FBI escalated this pressure by executing a search warrant in Fulton County, Georgia, seizing ballots and materials related to the 2020 presidential election.
The DOJ’s letter to Wayne County signals that Trump’s Justice Department believes county and local election clerks in Michigan will hand over ballots without a fight.
But they are wrong.
We will stand united with local clerks to defend our votes, our voters, and our constitutional authority to run our own elections.
That’s why this week we sent a response to the DOJ, setting the record straight for Harmeet Dhillon and Thomas Albus, both Trump-appointed DOJ officials who have been resurrecting the president’s debunked claims of fraud in the 2020 election.
We reminded them that such claims have been thoroughly heard and rejected by the courts and Republicans themselves in our state Legislature.
Search warrants and subpoenas are not political weapons – they are powerful law enforcement tools that must be wielded with care and precision. They must be justified by probable cause rooted in sworn facts and credible evidence, not political grievances.
If Trump’s Justice Department seeks court authorization for a search warrant, there is no persuasive evidence to present. It will only be the president and his cronies seeking to resurrect 2020 election conspiracy theories. This doesn’t meet the stringent standard required by law.
The truth about Michigan elections
Michigan’s elections are safe and secure.
Here are the facts: the DOJ’s letter cites three criminal cases (out of 1.4 million registered Wayne County voters), each of which were identified as suspicious by local clerks, referred to the Michigan Bureau of Elections for investigation and successfully prosecuted by Michigan’s attorney general.
Hundreds of nonpartisan post-election audits and independent reports have verified it, and polls show Michigan voters believe this, with strong supermajorities saying they are confident in the state’s election system.
Until recently, federal courts have been able to presume that allegations made by the DOJ are being made in good faith.
But federal courts across the country have repeatedly found that Trump’s DOJ can’t be trusted.
He has weaponized and politicized the department to pursue his own personal agenda. DOJ has become his political tool and is no longer an independent, trusted custodian of justice for the American people.
Courts in Michigan have faced the president’s political pressure before, and have stood firm, rooted in the rule of law. If Trump’s DOJ comes armed not with evidence but with the previously rejected claims cited in their letter, the law will require their requests for subpoenas or warrants be denied. We trust our courts will come to that conclusion.
Free and fair elections are the cornerstone of our democracy. We will stand with Michigan’s bipartisan, principled election officials to protect the integrity of our elections and the privacy of our voters.
It’s what the law requires of us, and we will follow the law, even if the federal government refuses to.
Dana Nessel is Michigan’s attorney general. Jocelyn Benson is Michigan’s secretary of state and a Democratic candidate for governor. Submit a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters, and we may publish it in print or online.
Editor’s note: The Free Press opinion page does not publish op-eds from candidates in an election year in nearly all circumstances, but makes limited exceptions when there is a compelling public interest justification tied directly to the candidate’s regular, noncampaign duties.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Trump demands 2024 Detroit ballots. He won’t get them. | Opinion
Reporting by Dana Nessel and Jocelyn Benson, Op-ed contributors / Detroit Free Press
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