Make no mistake about what the DOJ is doing
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The Department of Justice keeps filing lawsuits to undermine our elections. The pro-democracy movement keeps fighting back. So far, we are winning, and the DOJ is losing. But make no mistake: this is unsustainable.
Democracy will not survive a system in which the federal government is constantly trying to rig the rules. Nor can it survive one in which lawyers like me cannot lose a single case without catastrophic consequences.
Last night, a federal district court judge rejected the DOJ’s lawsuit seeking to force California to set aside the ballots of 20,000 voters based on little more than faulty data of unknown origin and unsubstantiated claims of fraud.
This is the second time the DOJ has lost in this case.
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The first loss came earlier this week at the Ninth Circuit, where, in an unorthodox move, the DOJ tried to skip the trial court altogether by asking the appeals court to intervene before the trial judge had ruled. It did not work.
Last night’s defeat comes on the heels of a string of voting cases the DOJ has lost.
In 2025, the DOJ lost its bid to defend Donald Trump’s anti-voting executive order, including its proof-of-citizenship requirement.
It has lost 27 straight cases seeking sensitive voter data.
It lost a case over sharing SAVE, a federal database used to verify citizenship and immigration status, with states to check their voter rolls.
It failed to defend the U.S. Postal Service rule that would have restricted mail-in voting.
Nor is the DOJ done losing.
It is nearly certain to lose its frivolous case against Alaska over certification of the Senate election. And it is threatening to sue Washington State (and lose) in a copycat of the case it just lost in California.
All this losing has not deterred the administration from escalating its attacks on our elections. To the contrary, each wave of defeats encourages Trump to propose an even more authoritarian response.
It is this escalation in its war on voting that is so troubling.
At no point in any of these cases have the DOJ or the White House reexamined their stance. Neither has even entertained the possibility that what they seek to do is illegal, unconstitutional and undemocratic.
In the California ruling, the judge observed: “Never before in American history has the federal government, on the eve of an election, sought to coerce a state and local government to abandon their own Constitutional elections procedures and bend to the will of the Executive Branch.”
Instead of reflecting on these sobering words, the DOJ immediately filed an appeal.
When I shared the news of this latest decision and the subsequent appeal, several allies assured me it would be fine because my legal team would prevail. While I appreciate the confidence, a democracy that counts on the federal government losing all of its election cases will not remain a democracy for long.
The next few weeks are going to be difficult. The lies and threats will intensify.
It was one thing to defeat the likes of Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell in the aftermath of the 2020 election. It is quite another to pull off the same winning percentage when the Department of Justice is on the other side.
Yet that is where we are once again for the 2026 midterm elections. And those willing to stand up and fight are largely on their own.
Sadly, the legal profession, corporate leaders and legacy media have all failed us. They will risk nothing to ensure free and fair elections.
The largest law firms stand on the sidelines and look the other way as these court fights play out. Corporate leaders are silent about the attacks on our elections. The legacy media is consumed with both-sides coverage and sanctimonious self-congratulation.
The next few weeks are going to be difficult. The lies and threats will intensify.
Trump will grow more desperate. DOJ will be further weaponized against Democrats and anyone else standing in Trump’s way.
More cases will be filed. The DOJ will lose and appeal. All eyes will turn to the U.S. Supreme Court.
I am used to this rhythm. It is my job and my obligation to do my part.
But I am warning you now: this is unsustainable.
Once this election is over, we must do more to protect democracy and free and fair elections.
That means real reforms to how we protect voting rights and how we staff and run elections. The fate of our elections can no longer depend on pro-democracy forces winning every single case in court.
We cannot afford to relive this in 2028 and beyond.