Bennet, Padilla, Durbin, Whitehouse, Colleagues Sound Alarm on Trump Administration Use of Election Crimes Prosecutions to Interfere in Midterm Elections

 Pursuant to Senate Policy, petitions, opinion polls, and unsolicited mass electronic communications cannot be initiated by this office for the 60-day period immediately before the date of a primary or general election. Subscribers currently receiving electronic communications from this office who wish to unsubscribe may do so here . M About About Michael Legislation News Press Releases Social Media Newsletter Archive Services Priorities Top Issues Child Tax Credit Investing in Colorado Contact Map Español Acerca de Michael Escribe a Michael Prioridades Servicios Visitando D.C. Bennet, Padilla, Durbin, Whitehouse, Colleagues Sound Alarm on Trump Administration Use of Election Crimes Prosecutions to Interfere in Midterm Elections Senators call out DOJ’s quiet removal of long-standing election prosecution manual ahead of 2026 midterms Denver — Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, a member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Ranking Member of […] Jun 11, 2026 | Press Releases Senators call out DOJ’s quiet removal of long-standing election prosecution manual ahead of 2026 midterms Denver — Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, a member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, Senator 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 Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action and Federal Rights, led 20 of their Senate colleagues to demand 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. 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. In their letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, the senators highlighted the administration’s alarming actions related to election administration and oversight, arguing that the removal of the manual from the DOJ website raises further questions about President Trump’s efforts to interfere in elections. Of particular concern, the 2017 edition of the manual 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.’” In the letter, 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 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 Bennet, Padilla, Durbin, and Whitehouse, U.S. Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Richard