Transcript (en)

consequences. That's basically what the White House said after Trump fired the remaining three members of the Bipartisan Election Assistance Commission this week. A White House official told MSNOW, quote, the president and head of the executive branch reserves the right to remove individuals that may not be totally aligned with the important task of securing America's elections and ensuring every legal vote is counted. Nowhere did that official indicate how these members failed in their task, but it may very well be that they were just not, quote, totally aligned with Trump's view of securing the election. And the consequences have become even greater for the states. The New York Times reports that the administration could hold back tens of millions of dollars in anti-terrorism funds to states that do not agree to make changes to their election process, including transitioning to paper ballots and verifying the citizenship of voters. And if non-citizens were to vote, which is extremely rare and already against the law, the DOJ is threatening top election officials nationwide with criminal prosecution, according to a letter sent to all 50 states and reviewed by MS Now. The DOJ is also planning to send election monitors to 15 jurisdictions in six states for the remaining primary elections this summer to, quote, ensure voter confidence in the upcoming primary elections.