'We’ll Be the Wall Trump Can’t Get Past': Newsom Threatens Felony Charges Over Election Interference

California Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday announced that he plans to bring legislation that will put felony charges on people who interfere with the state's election. In a video shared on X, Newsom warned that "anyone considering helping President [Donald] Trump interfere with our election or our count" will be prosecuted, and under the legislation he promised to bring, it will be a felony to seize ballots before results are declared. 

In the video, Newsom said California would pursue legal action against those who violate state election laws, regardless of their authority.  "If you violate California’s laws, if you interfere with our voters, tamper with our ballots or meddle in our election, you will be prosecuted," the governor warned. He added that he was advancing legislation that would make it a felony to seize ballots before election results are declared and certified by state and county officials. "We will be the wall; he [Trump] cannot get past," Newsom said. He further argued that election winners should govern after results are legally determined. "Once an election is decided, the winner governs for everyone."

Newsom's office said that the governor has partnered with the Legislature on the election-safeguarding plan, and while the deadline to introduce new bills has long passed, it's possible that a lawmaker could scrub the language in an existing bill and replace it with Newsom's plan through a process known as "gut and amend," the San Francisco Chronicle reported. It is further possible that Newsom may fit the proposal within an existing measure.  

This isn't the first time Newsom has taken action to what he says defend democracy in the state. Less than a week before the June 2 primary, he signed into law a measure that would prevent future ballot seizures from federal agents in the state. While he has defended the state's practices against Republican criticisms, he also signed a budget deal that included $29 million to speed up vote-counting. 

The fiery snippet from his planned July 4 speech comes in the wake of sustained criticism over California's election and vote-counting systems, which are known to be slow. Trump repeatedly called the elections "crooked" after the June primary, calling the mail-in voting, which is used by the majority of Californians, "mail-in cheating". Earlier this year, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco seized over half a million ballots from the state’s special redistricting election, claiming that he launched the investigation after a complaint from a local citizen group. At the time, Bianco was running for governor as a Republican, and the California Supreme Court later ordered him to halt the probe. 

Meanwhile, the First Assistant U.S. Attorney of California, Bill Essayli, claimed there is evidence of voter fraud and his office will continue its investigation into the state’s election. In an interview on California Politics 360, Essayli said there are multiple investigations, and while he can't discuss the details, he will surely follow the evidence and charges could be brought soon. He further alleged that the state has refused to provide information for an audit of the state's voter rolls; the Department of Justice is currently battling with California’s secretary of state and attorney general to go through with it.