Trump-picked judge smacks down DOJ's 'fishing expedition' for Rhode Island voter records

Rhode Island has become the fifth state to win in court after the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division requested sensitive voter records.

Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon has attempted to satisfy President Donald Trump's obsession with the 2020 election loss by requesting voter records from every state. While 17 of the Republican states handed over their rolls, the Department of Justice (DOJ) sued 29 states and Washington, D.C. for refusing the request.

In a ruling on Friday, U.S. District Judge Mary S. McElroy, a Trump appointee, noted that two federal laws govern the states' handling of voter records: the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and the Help America Vote Act (HAVA).

"The Court finds that the Attorney General's demand lacks a legally sufficient basis to satisfy Title III's requirements," McElroy wrote. "Absent from the demand are any factual allegations suggesting that Rhode Island may be violating the list maintenance requirements of the NVRA and HAVA."

"With that established, the purpose stated in the Attorney General's demand—purportedly, to ensure compliance with the NVRA and HAVA—does not plausibly relate to individual voting rights," she continued. "Neither the NVRA nor HAVA authorize DOJ to conduct the kind of fishing expedition it seeks here. As such, for the foregoing reasons, the Court DENIES the United States' Motion to Compel Production and GRANTS Defendants' Motions to Dismiss."

After going 0-5 in the first set of cases, Dhillon has 25 lawsuits in the remaining states that refused to cooperate.