DOJ Asks States to Hold Ballots from 405 Suspected Noncitizens

The Department of Justice has moved on two fronts in the past week that center on investigations from prior administrations, filing charges against former FBI officials over their statements about Hunter Biden’s laptop while simultaneously directing states to review ballots cast by individuals flagged as noncitizens. These steps come less than two weeks before midterm elections that will decide control of Congress, prompting state officials to question the timing and scope of the federal requests.

In one case, the DOJ charged two former senior FBI managers, Nichole Floris and Bradley Benavides, with lying to the House Judiciary Committee in 2023 about their knowledge of the Bureau’s handling of Hunter Biden’s laptop. The charges mark a rare instance of federal prosecutors targeting retired FBI personnel for statements made during congressional oversight rather than for espionage or financial crimes. Court records indicate the pair were questioned about internal decisions on how the laptop was processed and shared, yet the DOJ elected to proceed without presenting the matter to a grand jury. Critics of the move have noted that bypassing a grand jury allows prosecutors to file charges directly, a tactic sometimes used when evidence is viewed as thin or politically sensitive.

The laptop itself became a flashpoint during the 2020 campaign, when intelligence officials and media outlets raised concerns about possible foreign disinformation. Subsequent examinations confirmed the device’s contents originated with Hunter Biden, shifting the focus to questions of why federal agencies moved slowly on related tax and gun matters until after the election. The new charges against the FBI officials revive that timeline, though the complaint does not allege the agents altered evidence or obstructed an active case.

Separately, the DOJ contacted Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs to request that ballots from more than 400 individuals identified as noncitizens be set aside until eligibility can be confirmed. Federal records show these individuals cast roughly 1,500 votes in earlier elections, including one whose last ballot was recorded in 1994. Acting U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd described the 405 names as “the tip of the iceberg,” citing limits imposed by state law on the federal review. Washington, like several other states, runs all-mail elections and sends ballots to every registered voter on its rolls. A similar request went to California two weeks earlier.

State officials have pushed back on the timing, arguing that last-minute federal lists risk disrupting an orderly vote count without clear proof of widespread ineligible participation. Floyd’s office maintains the effort is necessary to uphold election integrity, yet the correspondence does not specify how many of the flagged individuals remain on active rolls or how many ballots from this cycle are actually at issue.

Taken together, the actions illustrate an aggressive posture by the current DOJ on matters that blend law enforcement with electoral concerns. The Hunter Biden laptop charges focus on alleged misstatements by career officials years after the fact, while the voter-roll reviews target small numbers of potential noncitizen registrations in battleground states. Both efforts rely on information developed through congressional or administrative channels rather than fresh criminal complaints from the public. Observers note that such cases can generate headlines about accountability or fraud even when the underlying numbers remain modest.

Washington state has not yet indicated how it will respond to the request to segregate ballots, and legal challenges are expected if officials attempt to withhold votes without individualized hearings. The FBI agents face trial on the false-statement counts, with defense attorneys likely to argue that the questioning was imprecise and the charges selective. As ballots are prepared for the midterms, these parallel proceedings continue to draw attention to the intersection of federal enforcement priorities and the mechanics of voting.