DOJ Spent Months Emailing Wrong Address in Quest for 2020 Revenge

After months of misdirected demands, DOJ sued a state for noncompliance—weaponizing federal litigation to force access to voter data beyond what multiple federal judges have allowed.

Executive

Mar 12, 2026

⚖ Legal Exposure

Ethics Violation

Likely Unlawful

Potentially Criminal

Likely Criminal

The facts presented reflect serious procedural irregularities and competence issues (misaddressed demands, wrong official identified) coupled with aggressive efforts to obtain sensitive voter data and sue states. This creates a substantial investigative red flag for potential unlawful collection/handling or disclosure of protected voter information, but the article does not allege concrete unauthorized disclosure or a clear criminal rights-deprivation scheme sufficient to charge on the stated record.

Sources

https://newrepublic.com/post/207712/department-justice-wrong-email-address-oklahoma-voter-rolls

Summary

The Department of Justice spent weeks sending demands for Oklahoma’s voter registration lists to a misspelled email address, then sued the state for noncompliance. The federal government escalated a mass campaign against states to force disclosure of voter data, even as multiple federal judges rejected its legal theory. The practical consequence is expanded federal pressure to extract and centralize sensitive personal information—including Social Security numbers—while increasing risks of improper disclosure and weakened public trust in election administration.

Reality Check

When the federal government uses lawsuits to compel states to hand over sensitive voter data, it normalizes coercive leverage over election administration and weakens federalism guardrails. This precedent shifts power toward centralized control of personal information—including Social Security numbers—while increasing the risk of improper disclosure and eroding the public’s expectation of competent, restrained governance. As courts reject the underlying claims, continuing the campaign conditions the public to accept executive pressure as a substitute for lawful authority, degrading separation-of-powers discipline over time.

Legal Summary

Legal Analysis

18 U.S.C. § 241 — Conspiracy against rights

Article describes DOJ pursuing voter-roll data and suing states for noncompliance; however, it alleges no agreement among actors to injure/oppose voting rights, only procedural/competence failures (wrong official, misspelled email address).
Absent facts showing intent to intimidate, disenfranchise, or unlawfully burden voters, the elements for a prosecutable §241 rights-conspiracy are not established on this record.

52 U.S.C. § 20510(b) — NVRA unlawful disclosure/use of registration information

The article notes the demanded voter-registration information could include sensitive identifiers (e.g., Social Security numbers) and warns that improper disclosure could violate laws; that creates an investigative red flag around collection, handling, and dissemination.
But the context does not allege DOJ actually disclosed protected data unlawfully (it describes demands and litigation; some judges rejected claims; some states provided/pledged lists), leaving key elements (unlawful disclosure/use) factually underdeveloped.

18 U.S.C. § 1905 — Disclosure of confidential information (Trade Secrets Act / protected information)

If federal personnel were to disclose protected personal data obtained through official duties contrary to law/regulations, §1905 can be implicated; the article flags the sensitivity of the information and the risk of improper disclosure.
No concrete allegation is provided that a DOJ employee disclosed specific protected data; the described “less than careful” handling is suggestive but not element-satisfying without evidence of actual unauthorized disclosure.

5 U.S.C. § 552a (Privacy Act of 1974) — Improper disclosure/maintenance of personal records

The article’s concern about collecting/handling Social Security information and other sensitive identifiers raises Privacy Act exposure if records are collected/maintained without proper authority or disclosed without consent/routine-use compliance.
However, the article does not describe a specific Privacy Act “system of records,” an actual disclosure event, or a concrete improper maintenance practice—only risk concerns tied to the DOJ demands and broader alleged sloppiness.

Conclusion: The described conduct reads primarily as procedural/operational irregularity and aggressive litigation posture around voter-roll data, not a money-for-official-action pattern; it presents investigative red flags regarding sensitive-data acquisition and handling, but the article does not establish completed statutory disclosure or rights-deprivation offenses.

Media

Detail

In December, Department of Justice officials sent a letter demanding that Oklahoma provide voter registration lists and addressed it to “Paul Ziriax,” whom the correspondence identified as the Oklahoma secretary of state. Ziriax is the secretary of the Oklahoma State Election Board.

After receiving no response, DOJ officials sent additional emails. In late January, Oklahoma election official Misha Mohr replied that her office had only just received the prior correspondence because the email address had been misspelled: the messages were sent to “ifo@” instead of “info@” at the same mail server.

The federal government later sued Oklahoma for not complying with the demand. DOJ has sued Washington, D.C., and 29 states for refusing to turn over voter registration forms. Twelve states have provided or pledged to provide voter registration lists that include data such as license plates and Social Security numbers. Federal judges in California, Michigan, and Oregon have rejected the federal government’s claim to obtain this personal data.

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