Essayli Destroys Padilla’s Pathetic Election Fraud Excuse

Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) tried to claim there was no evidence that 20,000 noncitizens received ballots in California. I know you’ll be shocked, but his lie was incredibly easy to debunk.

Padilla, like all the California Democrats, desperately wants to count those illegal noncitizen ballots. If Republicans succeed in cleaning out voter rolls across the country, I think it will surprise us how many state and federal offices Democrats lose. Ironic how Padilla cites the Constitution, when the Constitution reserves American rights — which would include voting — to American citizens. Padilla claimed the 20,000 noncitizens are “eligible,” but he’s full of garbage.

First, they offer no evidence to try to block 20,000 ballots from being counted. Now, the Trump Administration is threatening California election officials with criminal investigations without any legal basis. The Constitution gives states the authority to administer elections — not Donald Trump. California won’t be bullied, and every eligible voter has the right to vote and have their vote counted.

— Senator Alex Padilla (@SenAlexPadilla) October 17, 2026

Padilla is just one of the Democrats circling the wagons to protect the fraud machine, defying the Trump administration and its local representatives.

For Our VIPs: Yes, Dems Want Fraud: Feds Found 20,000 Noncitizen Voters and California Yawned

Bill Essayli, first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, is both incredibly effective at his job and devastatingly quick in debate. After the Trump administration identified at least 20,000 noncitizens to whom Democrats already sent out ballots for this year‘s election, Secretary of State Shirley Weber (D-Calif.) and Attorney General Rob Bonta (D-Calif.) simultaneously denied the allegations and then essentially said that, since they had already sent out the ballots, it was too late, and they didn’t care. Essayli replied by telling them he’d see them in court.

Now that Padilla is joining the chorus of lies, Essayli disposed of his propaganda in a few brief sentences. “What are you talking about? We gave California the names, addresses, and DOBs of the noncitizens we've identified. We have their alien files at [U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services], which contain their immigration status. If California has evidence showing they are in fact citizens, we would love to see it. This shouldn’t be political. We’re enforcing federal laws passed by Congress,” Essayli retorted on X.

That's not true. The 20k represents the number of noncitizens confirmed by a review of federal databases. This has been confirmed by @USCIS and @HSI_HQ. The data has been provided to California, and they are free to check the work. But that suggests California is actually interested in complying with federal election laws.

— F.A. United States Attorney Bill Essayli (@USAttyEssayli) October 16, 2026

In a separate post, he cited federal law as a warning to California Democrats. “Under 18 U.S.C. §§ 611 and 2, officials who knowingly tabulate unlawful ballots risk aiding and abetting a federal offense. @TheJusticeDept urges the County and the Secretary of State to temporarily segregate the flagged ballots pending citizenship verification or face legal consequences,” Essayli said emphatically. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all the arrogant California officials actually had to deal with justice for once?

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