For years, Democrats — especially "mainstream" (left-wing) reporters — have pretended President Trump persecutes the press. Their current silence is deafening after Democratic Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty just brought bogus and stunning felony charges against two conservative journalists, Cam Higby and James O'Keefe, for having the audacity to expose Minnesota's woefully lax voter security protocols. In other words, Moriarty illegally charged two reporters for doing their jobs.

Moriarty’s illegal felony charges against disfavored reporters for non-crimes crossed a glaring red line, and the Trump Justice Department must immediately and publicly open a civil rights criminal case against Moriarty and others for conspiring to violate and violating Higby and O’Keefe’s First Amendment constitutional rights, under 18 U.S.C. §§ 241 and 242. If the evidence is there, which it seems obvious, Moriarty must face federal charges immediately. Anything short of this turns a blind eye to an extraordinarily dangerous open season on America’s free press.

Every illegal vote, as a matter of basic arithmetic, disenfranchises a legal voter. Election integrity requires public confidence in the system's security. Tina Peters faced nearly a decade in prison for revealing serious election flaws in Colorado until Democratic Gov. Jared Polis courageously commuted her sentence. Following Peters' lead, Higby and O'Keefe set out to test Minnesota's voting system for weaknesses. Higby wore a burqa and posed as a registered voter. He also vouched for a companion he said was registered as well. He filmed the exchange with poll workers to show his online audience just how vulnerable the system really is.

COLORADO GOVERNOR COMMUTES TINA PETERS' SENTENCE AS TRUMP POSTS ‘FREE TINA!’

The video shows that Higby never had to present photo identification. His word alone cleared his companion, who also produced no ID. To be clear, neither cast a ballot. The exercise simply aimed to demonstrate, as Higby certainly did, how easily someone can manipulate Minnesota's elections.

The state's U.S. Senate race between Republican Michele Tafoya and far-left Democrat Peggy Flanagan is tightening. The stakes are high: The race could decide control of the Senate chamber. Only lawful voters should cast ballots, and the law limits federal elections to American citizens.

SLEEPER GOP CANDIDATE PUTS BLUE-LEANING STATE IN PLAY AS FRAUD SCANDAL SHADOWS DEMS

What Higby and O'Keefe did was vintage investigative journalism, not voter fraud. The First Amendment guarantees a free press to protect this precise kind of work. If prosecutors can punish undercover journalism with felony charges, oversight by the Fourth Estate will dramatically diminish. Fear of prosecution and prison will chill would-be investigators whenever the powers-that-be dislike a story, such as one revealing insecure ballot safeguards.

But Moriarty, a Democrat lawfare crusader, does not care about any of this. She only cares about getting plaudits from top Democrat brass — and power — at any and all costs, including imprisoning reporters.

JONATHAN TURLEY: SUPREME COURT MUST TAKE HERRIDGE CASE AND PROTECT REPORTERS' SOURCES

Moriarty applies the law selectively. The case of Turning Point USA activist Savannah Hernandez proves it. Three agitators assaulted Hernandez in front of numerous witnesses and cameras captured the attack. Moriarty pursued only misdemeanor charges — a slap on the hand. Fortunately, federal prosecutors stepped in and filed felony charges against the three alleged attackers. Yet Moriarty now seeks to convict Higby and O'Keefe of serious crimes, though they attacked no one and neither voted illegally nor actually attempted to vote in the first place.

Moriarty's lawfare demands a federal response. Federal law, specifically 18 U.S.C. § 242, makes it a crime to willfully deprive anyone of constitutional rights under color of law. And 18 U.S.C. § 241 makes it a crime to conspire with others to do the same. Moriarty should go after fraudsters at the ballot box and those behind billions in bogus claims against Medicaid. Instead, she is hounding two journalists for doing their jobs: showing the public how dismal Minnesota's election protections are.

SOROS NETWORK REBUILDS PROGRESSIVE PROSECUTOR PUSH AFTER STRING OF ELECTION LOSSES

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Higby and O'Keefe should not face criminal charges. But Moriarty and her co-conspirators must. Indicting them would send a resounding message to Soros-backed and other leftist district attorneys across the nation: Lawfare will carry dire legal consequences. Prosecutors must meet the highest standards. After all, as the left intoned during the anti-Trump lawfare years, no one is above the law.

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A dual U.S.-Salvadoran citizen from California accused of murdering a woman in front of their toddler son before abandoning the child near her remains has been extradited to El Salvador to face charges, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Thursday.

Michael Alejandro Castillo Murga, 27, of Beaumont, California, was handed over to Salvadoran authorities Wednesday to face charges of aggravated femicide and imperfect homicide in the 2019 killing.

The extradition marks the first time the U.S. has surrendered an American citizen to face prosecution for crimes committed in El Salvador, according to the DOJ. 

Castillo Murga holds dual U.S. and Salvadoran citizenship.

AMERICAN WHO FLED US AFTER ALLEGEDLY KILLING PREGNANT WIFE COULD RETURN WITHIN DAYS WITH MURDER CHARGE DROPPED

Salvadoran authorities allege Castillo Murga picked up Melvi Fernanda Nájera Quezada, 23, and their son from her mother's home Jan. 31, 2019, supposedly to begin living together as a family.

Investigators allege he instead killed Nájera Quezada and abandoned their child near her body, which was discovered near a highway the next day. 

An autopsy determined she died from severe bleeding caused by cuts to her neck and other wounds inflicted with a plastic knife, according to the DOJ.

Farmworkers discovered the boy, who was younger than 2, several days later in a rugged area near where his mother's body was found. He was severely dehydrated and starving with cuts on his face, insect bites and signs of abuse, authorities said.

FUGITIVE MOM WANTED IN DAUGHTER’S ARIZONA MURDER USED CARTELS TO HIDE FOR YEARS BEFORE CAPTURE IN MEXICO: FEDS

Investigators linked Castillo Murga to the killing through cellphone location data and witness accounts. Authorities also said he sent his girlfriend a photograph showing bloodstains on his face and neck.

Prosecutors also accused Castillo Murga's grandmother and a lawyer of helping conceal evidence. According to the DOJ, the pair arranged for two people to clean blood from the interior and exterior of Castillo Murga's vehicle using water, car shampoo and vinegar, but they were unable to remove all the blood.

Castillo Murga escaped to Guatemala around Feb. 2, 2019, with assistance from his grandmother and lawyer before eventually entering the U.S., according to prosecutors.

MAN ACCUSED OF KILLING WIFE ON WEDDING NIGHT BROUGHT BACK TO US AFTER YEARS ON THE RUN IN MEXICO

U.S. Marshals arrested him in October 2024 in response to an extradition request from El Salvador.

Castillo Murga challenged his extradition in federal court, but a judge rejected his petition in November 2025 and denied a subsequent request to halt the transfer in September 2026.

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The secretary of state ultimately authorized his surrender, and U.S. Marshals transported him into Salvadoran custody Wednesday to face prosecution.

U.S. District Judge David O. Carter on Wednesday rejected the Justice Department's emergency request to force California to set aside mail-in ballots associated with more than 20,000 registered voters whose citizenship the Trump administration has questioned, ruling that the last-minute intervention would disrupt an election already underway.

The over 20,000 voters identified by Department of Justice officials as "likely aliens" were designated as such after Homeland Security Investigations and federal partners "used multiple data-enrichment and verification methods" to flag potential noncitizens on California’s voter rolls. California officials, however, disputed the list's accuracy, citing a preliminary review that identified U.S.-born individuals and voters with no voting history among those flagged.

Carter, a Clinton appointee, ruled that the Justice Department's last-minute effort to intervene in California's election violated constitutional and federal-law constraints, while questioning the reliability of the government's evidence that the flagged voters were noncitizens.

"The district court denied our emergency request to sequester ballots from 20,000 suspected noncitizens," First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. "This ongoing emergency disenfranchises American citizens through dilution. The Solicitor General authorized an immediate appeal. We filed our Notice of Appeal and will immediately seek an emergency order from the Ninth Circuit."

NINTH CIRCUIT QUESTIONS TRUMP DOJ'S EMERGENCY REQUEST TO SET ASIDE 20,000 CALIFORNIA MAIL BALLOTS

The Trump administration has suffered a string of defeats in election-related cases in the lead-up to the midterm elections, raising questions whether the administration will be able to deliver on its promises of improved election integrity ahead of the 2028 presidential election. President Donald Trump and other administration officials have repeatedly raised concerns about widespread voter fraud in U.S. elections, though those claims have not been supported by evidence demonstrating fraud on such a broad scale.

California election officials argued that complying with the Justice Department's request would be virtually impossible because county election offices had already processed more than 500,000 ballots, separating them from identifying information and preventing officials from reliably linking those votes to individual voters.

Carter warned that the requested intervention would "wreak havoc and disrupt the election that is already underway," though he noted that federal authorities were free to pursue individual voting fraud cases.

Experts were divided along ideological lines in the case.

TRUMP SCORES SUPREME COURT WIN IN ELECTION INTEGRITY FIGHT AS STATES GAIN NEW VOTER ROLL TOOL

Hans von Spakovsky, an election expert at Advancing American Freedom, a Mike Pence-affiliated think tank, criticized California for refusing to comply with the DOJ’s request.

"It tells you something very revealing and unfortunately badly revealing about California officials that they don’t even want to check," von Spakovsky told The Center Square. "In California, for example, they have automatic voter registration. When you go in to get a driver’s license, they don’t ask you, ‘Would you also like to register to vote?’ The state of California just automatically registers you, and when you ask them, they say, ‘Well, it’s up to the individuals to tell us they’re not eligible to vote.’"

BIDEN-APPOINTED JUDGE BLOCKS VOTER-FRAUD PROBES IN BATTLEGROUND STATES JUST DAYS BEFORE MIDTERMS

Rick Hasen, a University of California, Los Angeles, election-law professor, meanwhile, called the Justice Department’s request a "total overreach of federal power," arguing that "the Constitution’s clear that states have the authority to run Congressional elections unless Congress passes a statute otherwise — and Congress didn’t do so here."

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The California governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Thursday.

Federal law enforcement authorities have launched a nationwide crackdown dubbed, "Operation Ghostbusters," to dismantle an international student aid scheme that investigators estimate has been operating since 2021, "potentially reaching several hundred million dollars" in taxpayer losses. 

Announcing the first wave of enforcement actions, Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald revealed that organized syndicates have systematically stolen the identities of working Americans who never applied to college, using their information to enroll fictional "ghost students" at institutions nationwide and siphon federal financial aid directly into offshore accounts.

"These are not isolated errors," McDonald said at a news conference Thursday. "This is organized fraud at scale."

TRUMP ADMIN REQUIRING GOV ISSUED ID TO APPLY FOR FEDERAL STUDENT AID SAVED $200 MILLION IN FRAUD IN 2 MONTHS

The sprawling operation currently spans more than 40 open cases across 26 FBI field offices and has already produced indictments against five defendants, as well as the international seizure of more than $750,000 in laundered cryptocurrency tied to networks in Kenya. 

"If successful at duping the Department of Education, Ed then sends the aid money to the college where the ghost student is enrolled," McDonald said in his opening remarks. "After tuition and fees are deducted, the leftover federal funds are deposited directly into bank accounts controlled by fraudsters, and in a flash, the money vanishes, often overseas to places like Kenya. 

"The methods used in these schemes are increasingly sophisticated. 

"Some use super intelligence  to fill out college applications and complete coursework, so it looks like the ghost student is actually completing the class. 

"Some even create the appearance of a fake student in an online classroom to trick schools into believing a real person is present. The goal is to keep the ghost student in school for as long as possible, semester after semester after semester, stealing money from the taxpayer."

TREASURY IDENTIFIES $270 MILLION IN SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY TIED TO POSSIBLE FEDERAL STUDENT AID FRAUD

Prosecutors allege that after tuition and fees were settled, leftover grant and loan disbursements were siphoned through domestic "money mules" and funneled abroad – including through fronts like a Nairobi safari company.

"We have already sent a team to Kenya to be on the ground for purposes of rooting out this fraud scheme and figuring out how it works on the ground in Kenya," McDonald said in the question and answer portion of the news conference.

And, unsuspecting victims facing ruined credit and bills for an education they never received, they warned.

"The complete story includes the plight of an American citizen who graduated high school and went straight to work to provide for his family," McDonald said. "He never applied to college, he never enrolled in classes, and he never asked for federal student aid. But one day, he finds his name attached to a loan from a school hundreds or thousands of miles away.

"His credit is now at risk and his name is on the bill."

DOJ INVESTIGATES ILLINOIS SCHOOLS OVER SECRET GENDER TRANSITIONS, IDEOLOGY

McDonald's timeline for the investigation began in earnest in April and includes alleged fraud that began in 2021 under the Biden administration, according to McDonald.

"If you steal American identities, if you steal taxpayer dollars, if you exploit programs meant to help students build their future, we are resolved to find you and prosecute you," he said. "Whether you're in Nebraska, New Jersey, Virginia, or Nairobi, we will pursue you and bring you to justice."

Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent pinned the Biden administration on this for having taken off fraud safeguards.

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"When we walked in the door last January, we were extremely troubled to find that the Biden administration had turned off nearly every fraud detection measure, allowing critical funds to become the target of large-scale fraud," Kent said. "The federal student aid programs result in about a $1.7 trillion federal student loan portfolio. That's like turning off fraud detection efforts at Wells Fargo, which is just crazy."

A federal judge rejected the Justice Department’s request for a temporary restraining order that would have barred California from counting mail ballots from more than 20,000 alleged noncitizen voters, saying the election "is already underway."

U.S. District Judge David Carter, in a ruling issued late Wednesday night after a hearing in Los Angeles, said the government's request "would wreak havoc and disrupt the election that is already underway, create a chilling effect on election workers and voters alike, and discount the votes of United States citizens."

The Justice Department immediately appealed the decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

CALIFORNIA MUST RESPOND TO DOJ'S EMERGENCY REQUEST OVER BALLOTS MAILED TO ALLEGED NONCITIZENS, COURT RULES

"The district court denied our emergency request to sequester ballots from 20,000 suspected noncitizens," U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli wrote on X. "Every day, more ballots are processed by election officials. This ongoing emergency disenfranchises American citizens through dilution. The Solicitor General authorized an immediate appeal. We filed our Notice of Appeal and will immediately seek an emergency order from the Ninth Circuit."

NEWSOM SPARS WITH TRUMP-APPOINTED PROSECUTOR OVER 20,000 SUSPECTED NONCITIZENS ON VOTER ROLLS

California mails ballots to all 23 million of its registered voters. More than 3.7 million people have already voted in the state, including more than 500,000 ballots already processed this week with the ballot already out of the envelope, according to court filings.

It would be impossible to know which ballot belonged to a particular voter now, according to Los Angeles County officials.

BLANCHE WON'T RULE OUT DOJ BLOCKING ELECTION CERTIFICATION IN 'DOOMSDAY' SCENARIO

"Eroded trust in our democracy is irreparable," Judge Carter, appointed by former President Bill Clinton, wrote. "Once a vote is segregated, lasting harm has occurred. If the Executive can discount votes and threaten an ongoing election due to unproven allegations, then our democracy is in danger. This Court declines to be a party to such process."

STATE DEPARTMENT CONSIDERS SHARING PASSPORT RECORDS FOR VOTER CITIZENSHIP CHECKS

Carter said that "states have control over their elections," but the federal government claims it has evidence the state refuses to accept that there are 20,000 noncitizens registered to vote in the state of California.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted that states are not doing enough to stop noncitizens from voting, which he says is widespread.

Carter said the Justice Department never explained why counting ballots would impair any prosecutions under the law, and California said the DOJ's assertions relied on "suspect data."

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT CHARGES 16 ACROSS MULTIPLE STATES WITH ALLEGED ILLEGAL VOTING, ELECTION CRIMES

"There are no mysterious databases; this was laid out in publicly filed declarations," Essayli wrote Wednesday night on X. "Voter rolls were compared to USCIS immigration, Social Security, and passport records. We are not changing the rules mid-election, we are enforcing them. It’s unlawful for noncitizens to vote."

Registered voters can self-declare to be noncitizens to get removed from the voter roll, and do so while they are seeking naturalization or saying they are ineligible for jury duty.

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In Washington state, the Justice Department on Monday sent a letter asking officials not to count any ballots received from 400 voters it claims are not citizens. Washington had 5 million registered voters as of 2024, state records show.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

The Justice Department's Antisemitism Task Force Chairman Leo Terrell is taking the Trump administration’s fight against antisemitism directly into Jewish communities on a 15-city nationwide tour, and he says he means business.

Terrell told Fox News Digital that local leaders have too often failed to respond while Jewish Americans face threats in their schools, workplaces and houses of worship.

"The whole purpose of this tour is to go to where the problem is at, to address their needs, and to provide them with federal support," Terrell said. "Antisemitism is now, and we have to come up with solutions for the future."

ANTISEMITIC VIOLENCE REACHES DEADLIEST LEVEL SINCE 1994, NEW GLOBAL REPORT FINDS

The "American Tour Against Hate" began Oct. 14 in Michigan, bringing representatives from the Justice Department, FBI and Labor Department together with Jewish residents, students, educators and religious leaders. The federal officials addressed antisemitism in workplaces and schools, as well as the enforcement of hate-crime laws.

Terrell said the tour was created to reach communities that feel ignored or abandoned by local officials and to connect them directly with federal resources.

"We had the FBI at the first tour meeting because some of these cities have failed to prosecute hate crimes," Terrell said, naming Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco, New York and Detroit. He did not identify specific unprosecuted cases.

Terrell said every stop on the tour would include a public event followed by visits to synagogues, Jewish schools and community centers.

WOMAN BUSTED IN NYC RABBI SYRINGE ATTACK ALLEGEDLY STABBED ANOTHER JEWISH MAN HOURS EARLIER: REPORT

"The tour is really two days," he said. "We have a two-hour tour event where the community is invited. You know what we do the next day? I spend the next day, all day in the Jewish community."

The tour comes as Jews remain disproportionately targeted in religiously motivated hate crimes. According to the latest FBI data, law enforcement agencies reported 1,528 single-bias anti-Jewish hate-crime incidents in 2025. The data also showed that 62.4% of victims of religious-bias hate crimes were targeted because of anti-Jewish bias.

Terrell characterized protecting Jewish students and religious communities as a "24-7 obligation," encompassing colleges, K-12 schools and synagogues. He also criticized the financial burden Jewish institutions face to protect students and worshipers, describing security expenses as a "Jewish tax."

Universities remain a major focus of Terrell’s work. He warned university presidents that federal scrutiny would continue if Jewish students remained unprotected, saying potential violations would not disappear with a change in administration.

JEWISH CAMPUS LIFE AT A ‘CROSSING POINT’ AS STUDENTS WEIGH ANTISEMITISM RISKS, NEW REPORT SHOWS

"All these campus presidents are on notice," he said. "You know what I think they’re trying to do? I think they’re trying to wait out President Trump. It’s not gonna happen."

He added, "Because if they fail to take care of Jewish American students, all students, we’re going back at them, each school, because those are ongoing violations," he said.

"My philosophy is quite simple. Don’t cut deals with these guys," Terrell added. "Force them to go to court, get a court order settlement to make sure they are under the gun to protect Jewish American students."

Asked about professors and those allegedly encouraging harassment, Terrell pointed to what he described as overseas influence on campuses.

"I think, first of all, there’s a lot of money being brought in from overseas to influence the administration, the faculty members and what I call professional harassers," he said.

Asked specifically whether foreign funding and organizational coordination were being investigated, Terrell said, "That is one of the tools."

BIPARTISAN DUO LAUNCHES CONGRESSIONAL CAUCUS TO CONFRONT ANTISEMITISM AT COLLEGES

"The influence of overseas money as it impacts college campuses and really throughout this country to promote antisemitism. Let me tell you right now, that’s being investigated," he said.

His call for broader participation extended to young Christians. Terrell spoke to more than 200 students at the Christian Leaders Summit Forum in Lynchburg, Virginia, hosted by the Combat Antisemitism Movement.

Asked why their participation mattered, Terrell called it "probably the most important meeting I’ve ever had in my job," emphasizing the students’ youth and Christian faith.

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"This fight against antisemitism has to include everyone in this country," he said. "Antisemitism is not a Jewish issue. It’s an American issue. It’s a Western civilization issue."

"So I need these young people to join me on the stage, telling the Jewish community, telling all Americans we are together in fighting antisemitism," he added. "Religious freedom must be available to all Americans."

Asked what Jewish Americans who feel abandoned could count on him to deliver, Terrell urged them to seek help.

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"I will never say no," he said. "I will never say no to help. Call my office, call the Department of Justice."

A top House Republican leading the investigation into ActBlue is warning that Democrats' main fundraising platform could potentially face criminal charges.

Committee on House Administration Chairman Bryan Steil, R-Wis., told Fox News Digital that the congressional investigation into ActBlue would continue and that he suspected the Department of Justice (DOJ) would act as well if federal prosecutors believed a crime could be proven in court.

"We know that ActBlue did not have the fraud prevention standards in place that were necessary to prevent foreign funds from finding their way, through the ActBlue platform, into Democratic campaigns and Democratic causes. I'm of the belief that we ultimately need to continue this investigation," Steil told Fox News Digital.

ANOTHER ACTBLUE LEADER PLEADS FIFTH AS HOUSE INVESTIGATES ALLEGED FOREIGN DONATIONS

"And then, separate of that, the United States Department of Justice will make a decision as to whether or not they believe that there was a crime committed. And if they can prove that in court, my belief would be that the Department of Justice would move forward."

Steil's committee, along with the House committees on oversight and the judiciary, have for years probed allegations that ActBlue's lax verification standards have allowed foreign cash to seep into American elections. ActBlue has denied any wrongdoing and dismissed the probe as a partisan attack.

DEM FUNDRAISING GIANT MAKES DAMNING ADMISSION AS GOP PROBES FOREIGN DONATION ALLEGATIONS

ActBlue has, however, sought to shore up its donor verification standards as the probe has gone on, including most recently rolling out a new passport verification system.

"Our investigation is about getting the facts to the American people, and, in large part, putting ourselves in a position to update our campaign finance laws for the digital era," Steil said. "So many of our campaign finance laws were written for a previous time. It is absolutely essential that we're updating our laws to actually address the fact that we are in a campaign finance digital era."

President Donald Trump directed now-former Attorney General Pam Bondi to open an investigation into ActBlue in April 2025, but the current status of that probe is unknown. Fox News Digital reached out to the DOJ with Steil's comments, asking for an update on the investigation.

The platform has long been used by many Democrats to raise money for their political campaigns, including Democratic leaders in the House and Senate, though it said it paused donations from Americans abroad in 2025.

FAR-LEFT POLITICIANS STILL USING ACTBLUE AS 88-YEAR-OLD DISPUTES DONATING NEARLY $150,000 TO FUNDRAISING GIANT

ActBlue has consistently denied wrongdoing in responses to Fox News Digital and communications to House investigators. Ten top figures within the company, including executives and founders, have pleaded the Fifth Amendment to avoid answering questions in both public and private sit-downs with GOP-led committees.

But a new report released earlier this month, first reported by Fox News Digital, appeared to show employees green-lighting donations despite some questions about where they came from.

Chief among the GOP's concerns was ActBlue's passport number verification. According to the report, the field only required the correct number of characters for a U.S. passport number rather than a valid code for a donation to be accepted.

A letter sent to House investigators by ActBlue's lawyers earlier this month said its new program "adds passport-based identity verification as a further enhancement to ActBlue’s multi-layered approach to fraud and foreign-contribution prevention."

TEXAS AG PAXTON SUES DEM FUNDRAISING PLATFORM ACTBLUE, ALLEGING 'FRAUDULENT AND FOREIGN DONATIONS'

"The new program uses the best available technology to allow eligible donors located abroad to verify their identity using a valid U.S. passport. It reflects substantial engineering investments by ActBlue to ensure that, as it resumes processing contributions from foreign addresses, its compliance systems can withstand scrutiny," the letter said.

Steil said at the time that the update "only confirms what we've been saying: ActBlue failed to verify the citizenship of individuals who made donations from abroad."

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Fox News Digital reached out to ActBlue for comment on Steil's most recent remarks.

Washington's secretary of state blasted the Justice Department Wednesday after federal officials said investigators had identified more than 400 noncitizens illegally registered to vote in the state, some of whom they said had cast ballots in multiple elections dating back decades.

Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs pushed back against the findings, saying the state’s review of the list uncovered "several glaring deficiencies."

"This list includes United States citizens and is not reliable. Without individualized proof of ineligibility, it would be both irresponsible and illegal for election officials to decline to process a registered voter’s ballot," he said. 

"That analysis reflects a significant number of people on your list who are not currently registered to vote or are on inactive status, contradicting your representations that all the individuals included in the list will receive a ballot in this year’s election," he added. 

On Monday, the U.S. attorneys’ offices for the Eastern and Western districts of Washington said investigators had identified lawful permanent residents, or green card holders, who were registered to vote or had cast ballots.

"We have identified over 400 noncitizens who are registered to vote and have voted in multiple elections. This is only the tip of the iceberg," Neil Floyd, acting U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington, said in a statement. 

"We will continue to investigate and identify those who are committing crimes by voting illegally."

Immigration officials told Fox News Digital Tuesday that dozens of noncitizens have also been arrested nationwide in a major voter fraud crackdown.

DOJ HAS VERIFIED 20,000 NONCITIZENS ON CALIFORNIA VOTER ROLLS, FEDERAL PROSECUTOR SAYS

In an interview with Fox News Digital, Floyd said investigators identified hundreds of noncitizen voters by reviewing U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) records, which showed that some people who applied for certain benefits had also voted.

While some individuals voted only once or three times in past elections, Floyd said others voted as many as 27 times. In total, his office counted approximately 1,500 instances of noncitizens casting ballots.

He emphasized that some noncitizens had been voting for decades, predating Washington’s transition to a vote-by-mail system. 

"I think the earliest moment we have is 1984," Floyd said. "It's early ‘90s, late ’80s, I believe."

However, Floyd said he had not checked whether any of the individuals voted in the upcoming midterms, explaining that he did not want to "interfere with the current election."

The number of potential noncitizen voters could represent only a fraction of the broader population, Floyd said, because the list includes only individuals who sought certain benefits in Washington state.

NINTH CIRCUIT QUESTIONS TRUMP DOJ'S EMERGENCY REQUEST TO SET ASIDE 20,000 CALIFORNIA MAIL BALLOTS

"If you take that population, and you expand it out to include all the people that are here illegally that we haven't had contact with, just my estimation is that it's going to be in the thousands," Floyd said. 

Federal officials said many green card holders were registered to vote without their knowledge through Washington’s Motor Voter program, which integrates voter registration into the state’s Department of Licensing.

"We have heard from green card holders who were registered against their knowledge via the Washington Motor Voter program. Then they receive a ballot in the mail and assume they are legally registered — that simply is not the case," the notice said.

According to the Washington secretary of state’s website, eligible residents are automatically registered to vote only if they provide proof of U.S. citizenship during a driver’s license or ID card registration process.

Floyd said investigators identified patterns they believe contributed to noncitizens being registered to vote.

According to the DOJ notice, federal officials are asking Washington state to set aside ballots cast by the identified individuals until their citizenship status can otherwise be confirmed.

"Washington is now on notice that noncitizens are voting. It is up to the state to take action to make sure that they are not allowing these noncitizens to vote illegally," the notice said.   

The move builds on DOJ's legal action against California, where federal officials are seeking to set aside mail-in ballots from roughly 20,000 voters they allege are likely noncitizens while their citizenship status is verified.

In response, the California secretary of state’s office said last week that its review "found significant accuracy problems with their sweeping claims."

"At best, this litigation is a reckless political stunt. At worst, it threatens to disenfranchise thousands of Californians this election. Plaintiff’s sole claim—that a federal criminal prohibition on individual noncitizen voting preempts large swaths of California’s election administration—borders on the absurd. The relief Plaintiff seeks is as unlawful as it is untenable," the statement said. 

Officials warned that voting as a noncitizen can have serious consequences for those seeking to become U.S. citizens. Potential criminal charges include making false statements in a naturalization application, and some individuals could also face charges for fraudulent voter registration.

On Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security told Fox News Digital numerous illegal aliens had also admitted to unlawfully registering to vote or casting ballots in U.S. elections.

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Of the dozens of suspects arrested, at least 18 had voted in a federal election. 

The individuals were from a range of countries, including Mexico, Somalia, Honduras, Guyana, Cuba, Germany, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Vietnam, El Salvador, Cambodia, Guatemala, Portugal and Italy.

Many also faced charges for numerous alleged crimes, including counterfeiting, fraud, kidnapping, DUI, sexual offenses, assault with a dangerous weapon, drug possession and burglary.