Top Utah Republican blasts Trump's 'despicable' DOJ

Utah's Republican lieutenant governor, already under investigation by President Donald Trump’s Justice Department after refusing to hand over private voter data, is intensifying her criticism of Trump and his allies' efforts to alter election rules ahead of the midterms.

Deidre Henderson, who is Utah's chief election officer, said to KUER that trying to quickly introduce new voting requirements could have the effect of disenfranchising voters and causing chaos just a few weeks before the November election.

Henderson was especially critical of the move to put into immediate effect the SAVE Act, a piece of legislation supported by Republican Senator Mike Lee from Utah, which would introduce new proof-of-citizenship requirements.

She stated that the aim in trying to implement such far-reaching changes at once is “just to disenfranchise people.”

“And that’s crappy,” Henderson said. “That should not happen. That’s despicable.”

Henderson, a Republican who represents one of the nation’s most reliable red states, has become more and more at odds with the Trump administration regarding elections.

The Justice Department has asked Utah to hand over its complete voter registration list, which would include private details. However, Henderson has declined to do so, on the grounds that the federal government has no legal right to get the protected data.

Last month Henderson found out that the Department of Justice was looking into her regarding that refusal. The department issued a warning that she could face civil or criminal sanctions if she failed to preserve relevant information. However, Henderson shows no intention of retreating.

“I’ll comply with anything that’s lawful, of course,” she told KUER. “I don’t think their request is lawful, and 23 courts now have agreed with me.”

Spencer Cox, the Republican governor of Utah, has backed her resistance by stating that disagreements between the state and the federal government should be settled in court.

“It is wrong for the DOJ to investigate or threaten the lieutenant governor for carrying out her responsibilities under Utah law,” Cox said in September.

She has also opposed the Trump administration's attempts to change the procedures for mail-in voting. Together with election officials from both Republican and Democratic states, she has opposed a rule of the Postal Service which they claimed would be almost impossible to carry out before the midterms without leading to errors and delays.

For many years, Utah has depended heavily on voting by mail, and Henderson has on numerous occasions defended the system as secure.

The thing that troubles her most, she said, is what she called political "gamesmanship" concerning the voting rules.

“There are so many forces — forces much greater than me, greater than the Legislature, greater than our state — that are trying to muck things up for our voters,” Henderson said.

She stated that she does not know what the administration's "end game" is, but cautions that the consequences are already visible.

“I don't think it matters, even if the motivations are really good, right?” Henderson said of the Trump admin’s demands. “The chaos and confusion that's being created, the guardrails that are being destroyed — it's not worth any motivation.”