Bondi’s ‘blackmail’ letter deepens concerns over DOJ’s voter roll motives, federal judge says

• A federal judge in Oregon said that a letter sent by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to Minnesota raises questions about the DOJ’s voter roll campaign and fuels concerns that it’s being used as political leverage rather than election oversight.
  
  
• Bondi’s letter implied that the U.S. government would halt its aggressive immigration raids in Minnesota if the state fulfilled a number of demands, which included giving the DOJ unfettered access to voters’ unredacted data.
  
  
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The DOJ wants your private information — and is determined to get it

• Pam Bondi demanding access to Minnesota’s voter rolls in return for withdrawing ICE wasn’t an isolated incident. Since May, the DOJ has been on a warpath to obtain unredacted voter roll data from every state, which includes private information like driver’s license and social security numbers for every voter, Marc explains.
  
  
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Trump’s fascist takeover has accelerated

• Trump’s second term is accelerating an authoritarian playbook at a speed the U.S. has never before seen. Historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat joined Marc to explain how expansionism, paramilitary policing, election sabotage, and propaganda mirror past fascist regimes, and why this moment is uniquely dangerous.
  
  
• They also explored why resistance looks different today, how fear and humiliation are weaponized, and what comes next for American democracy.
  
  
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Coming up tomorrow

• The 4th Circuit will hear a lawsuit challenging South Carolina’s law that only allows voters to vote absentee if they are over the age of 65 or fall into several limited categories.
  
  
• Trial begins in Mississippi for a federal lawsuit challenging DeSoto County’s electoral map, which plaintiffs allege violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act because it splits the Black community across different districts, diluting their voting power.

DEMOCRACY FOOTNOTES