DOJ's D.C. Brief Says DHS Bought California's Voter Roll; HSI's Declaration in the California Case Says Its Office 'Received' a Roster

DOJ’s account that DHS bought California’s voter roll and the sworn HSI account that its office “received” a roster were written in a different order than the filing dates suggest. Each date below says which kind it is.

DOJ trial attorney Christian Dibblee’s email to counsel for CREW in Common Cause v. U.S. Department of Justice, case 1:26-cv-01352-SLS (D.D.C.), is dated Thu, Oct 15, 2026 at 5:01 PM (sent date; time as printed, no time zone shown). It says “lawfully purchased voter roll” and cites Cal. Elec. Code section 2188. It is attached as ECF 53-6, stamped Filed 10/15/26 (filing date).

HSI Assistant Director Eric McLoughlin signed his sworn statement for the California case in Washington D.C., on a day of October 2026 (signing date). The day is entered by hand and appears as 15th on the page image; that is a visual observation, not machine-checkable. The statement was stamped Filed 10/19/26 (filing date).

DOJ’s motion for a stay pending appeal in the D.C. case, filed 10/16/26 (filing date), told that court that before suit “no government agency requested California’s unredacted voter roll” and that “DHS obtained the publicly accessible voter roll through a lawful purchase.” It cites section 2188, “making California’s voter roll available for purchase”, and adds that “DHS also did not use SAVE.” This is a brief, signed by counsel and not sworn. It names no seller, date, price or requester.

McLoughlin’s declaration, filed 10/19/26 (filing date), says his office “received what appeared to be the California voter roster.” On the signing dates, the sworn declaration and the emailed “lawfully purchased” sentence are from the same day, and the brief came a day later. The documents are of different kinds, in different cases.

Secretary of State Shirley Weber’s reply to DHS is attached to DOJ’s own complaint. In it, Weber writes that her office “has not shared our statewide voter registration list with DHS or any other federal agency.” She also writes that “state law prohibits sharing voters’ sensitive information, including social” security numbers. She replied on July 23 (letter date). The letter she answered, dated July 16, 2026 (letter date), from Secretary Markwayne Mullin, describes its source as “publicly available voter registration database information.” It reports 81,336 California registrants whose “date of birth, address and Social Security number match a non-citizen” in DHS files. Nothing in the filed record reconciles a public-file source with a Social Security number match.

Research Gaps

• Seller or supplier of the roster, any application on file, and the transaction date.
• Whether the purchase account is ever made under oath in United States v. California.

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