California Governor Gavin Newsom criticized President Trump’s Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin for threatening to arrest election officials in states, like California, that don’t cooperate with the Trump administration by handing over voter registration lists to the federal government.
At a press conference Friday, following Trump’s prime-time speech Thursday evening in which the President attempted to cast doubt on election security in the 2020 presidential election and the upcoming midterm elections, Mullin was asked if he could ensure that the 2026 midterm elections will be secure.
Mullin replied, “Yes, we absolutely can,” but added that the states “have to do their part.”
The guy who replaced Kristi Noem is threatening to arrest election officials who refuse to hand over voter data to help Trump rig the election.
Putin must be so proud. https://t.co/LFVJiU4z6y
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) July 17, 2026
Mullin said, “If the states that choose not to participate in the same program, if they choose not to participate in securing the elections, we will make sure that we make those states a priority to look at who voted in their states and hold them, the election officials, accountable. If the election officials, once we gave them the information they need to secure the elections, and they choose not to, then those individuals can also be held accountable.”
Newsom’s press office replied: “The guy who replaced Kristi Noem is threatening to arrest election officials who refuse to hand over voter data to help Trump rig the election. Putin must be so proud.”
U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) also criticized Mullin this week for claiming his department found 190,832 noncitizens registered to vote in California, without providing evidence to back up the allegation.
Watch @SenAlexPadilla lay it out:
Trump’s speech tonight will be full of lies and conspiracy theories about an already-settled election to distract Americans from his record of higher prices and rampant corruption pic.twitter.com/quTtobGq0B
— Senate Democrats (@SenateDems) July 16, 2026
Padilla said in a statement: “DHS hasn’t explained how it arrived at these figures, how it obtained the underlying data, or whether any of these individuals are actually noncitizens who actually cast a ballot.”
[NOTE: 190,832 people would represent about 0.49% of the population of California, 39.3 million.]
Mullin’s threat didn’t just draw fire from Democrats. Former Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-VA) also responded to Mullin’s press conference: “This plumber who never went to college, who has no law enforcement background, and certainly no legal background, knows nothing about election law, and will just continue to embarrass himself and waste government resources. He just plays to the audience of one. Ice Barbie with fewer costumes.”