DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin Holds American Elections Press Conference After Trump's Address

[0:02] Can you do a scanner for you? [0:04] Yeah. [0:05] Yeah. [0:06] Thank you. [0:14] Steven Portnoy. [0:23] It does like a reunion. [0:25] Huh? [0:26] Seven. [1:02] Test one, two, three. [1:05] This is the Mullen pool feed. [1:09] Audio check one, two, three. [1:11] The DHS Mullen. [1:16] Audio check one, two, three. [1:43] One more mic. [1:53] Mic check one, two, three. [1:55] DHS Indian Treaty Room. [1:58] EEOB mic check. [2:00] One, two, three. [2:28] It was very confusing to do for me. [2:30] I wondered if the lower class had a question. [2:36] Yes. [2:43] No, no. [2:52] Oh, did you see that? [3:10] Yeah. [3:20] Yes, exactly. [3:23] So, anyway, that was really confusing, but [3:27] I don't know if you heard. [3:31] Thank you. [4:10] I'll be right here. [4:19] FBI. [4:26] Yes. [4:33] Good morning, everybody. [5:04] Thank you so much for being here. [18:19] You know, President Trump is correct when he said that election security is national security. [18:27] And one of the greatest privileges I have is being Secretary of the Department of Homeland. [18:32] And part of that is that we secure our elections. [18:36] It surprised me when we first started getting in and digging into the elections. [18:44] And this isn't about rehashing the 2020 election. [18:47] This is just exposing what took place and to make sure it never happens again. [18:55] And there's some really easy steps that can be taken to secure our elections. [19:01] And it shouldn't be a partisan issue. [19:04] This should be something that every American, regardless if you're a Republican, you're a [19:09] Democrat, you're an Independent, you're a Libertarian, regardless if you live in a blue [19:12] state or you live in a red state, everybody should know that their vote counts. [19:19] And we have individuals that are voting that shouldn't be. [19:22] It counts. [19:23] It cancels out someone that should be. [19:27] So I want to go through some things in a little bit more depth than what we were able to expose [19:35] last night, because President Trump, he hit the highlights and those should be scary for [19:41] everybody. [19:42] What we're going to do is dig in just a little bit deeper and then we'll take some of your [19:45] questions. [19:46] So first of all, Department of Homeland Security, we've identified 250,000 non-citizens registered [19:54] to vote in just four states. [19:57] Mind you, we have 46 other states. [20:03] In just four states, we've identified 250,000 non-citizens registered to vote in California [20:13] and Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Nevada. [20:18] We also worked with proactive states to identify 28,000 non-citizens on their voter rolls, plus [20:31] 400,000 individuals that are still registered to vote that are deceased. [20:37] Now, these 23 states, they proactively worked with us on the SAVE program. [20:45] That's Georgia, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, North Carolina, Idaho, Alabama, Missouri, Louisiana, [20:53] Kansas, Arkansas, Wyoming, Montana, Iowa, Florida, South Dakota, Indiana, Arizona, South Carolina, Utah, [21:01] Nebraska, Michigan, and my great home state of Oklahoma. [21:06] What's interesting to me is we're getting pushback from activist judges that are saying that, [21:16] hold on, the SAVE Act or the SAVE program, they are trying to put a stop to. [21:23] Currently, because of the SAVE program, we have a pending appeal because activist judges are saying what? [21:30] They don't want to secure our elections? [21:32] Once again, how is this a partisan issue? [21:36] This shouldn't be a partisan issue. [21:39] This shouldn't be a partisan issue. [21:40] This should be that any judge and any God-fearing individual that loves this country should want to make sure that our elections are secure. [21:52] And we have created inside DHS the SAVE program that allows states to proactively look at their roles. [22:01] And so when you have 278,000 individuals that are non-citizens registered to vote, plus 400,000 that have already been identified just in 23 states, [22:16] what can we find when we have all 50 participating with us? [22:22] We know, talking about our machines, we know for sure that our foreign adversaries, not our allies, [22:34] foreign adversaries have parts that are vital pieces in our voting machines. [22:40] We know that they can access what they consider the key to the back of these vote, to these machines. [22:47] We know that they can change voter registration and your vote. [22:53] We know it's possible. There's not a question. It's not even for debate. [22:59] One thing that I love about numbers and I love about facts is they don't lie. [23:06] This isn't something that I'm trying to tell you to spin a narrative. [23:12] This is what is going on. And what we are saying is that every state should partner with us to work to secure this. [23:21] Once we identify the problem, everybody should be informed. [23:26] Working with Secretary Lutnik, we are going to make our security enhancements mandatory. [23:35] Meaning that if these states want a grant and they want to be reimbursed to work or to run federal elections, [23:46] they're going to have to implement security issues. Just security issues. [23:52] We're not trying to get into anything else, but we're saying that the machines have to be secured [23:56] and that your voter registration list needs to be scrubbed. [24:01] We need to make sure that individuals that are legally able to vote are voting. [24:08] We know that Iran hacked our state voter files and attempted to compromise, is the best word I can use, [24:19] our systems where military members used to vote. [24:23] So we're working with Secretary Hegseth and the DOW to safeguard those systems and protect our military voters. [24:31] What's frustrating again in this is that the Biden administration knew this. [24:36] And our intel community knew this. [24:41] And not only did they withhold it from President Trump in his first term, [24:46] but they withheld it, it looks like, President Biden in his term. [24:52] They withheld this information from the public. [24:56] They withheld it from Congress. [24:58] That should never happen again. [25:01] And because of President Trump's leadership, we're not allowing that to happen. [25:06] We're telling the American people not to scare them, but to ensure them that we are watching it. [25:13] We're taking it serious. [25:14] We will secure our elections. [25:17] Underneath President Trump's directive, he has gave the Department of Homeland Security [25:21] and myself the tools and the resources we need to secure the elections. [25:28] But we have to have the states partner with us. [25:32] If they choose not to, then the voters should hold them accountable. [25:38] When I was sworn in just over 100 days ago by President Trump, and I can tell you honestly, I haven't quit smiling. [25:46] I think this is the greatest job that I could possibly have. [25:51] I said at that time that I'm going to fight for your yard and your backyard like I do mine, regardless if it's a blue state or it's a red state. [26:03] The Department of Homeland Security isn't just keeping you safe on your streets, but we're keeping our voters safe and our elections safe. [26:11] But we can only do that if we have full participation. [26:16] Right now, as I said, we only have 23 states participating with us. [26:24] Out of just four blue states, to repeat that number, we found 250,000 non-citizens registered to vote. [26:33] So for us, we're going to take proactive and reactive measures. [26:39] At President Trump's direction, our cybersecurity team and CISA will release an updated election infrastructure plan, and it will be public within 30 days. [26:52] Meaning that will give the states the resources they need to help from the cyber side. [26:59] From us, if they participate in the SAVE program, we'll provide the resources and training to support state election integrity. [27:08] We're not trying to change the outcome. [27:10] We're trying to make sure that American people can trust our voting system. [27:14] Real ID does not prove citizenship and does not give you the right to vote. [27:24] You must be a U.S. citizen and you must be eligible to vote. [27:30] Before and after the election, we will scrub all election records looking for illegal aliens and those who are ineligible to vote, including those that somehow voted, yet they were deceased. [27:44] If you're illegal and attempted to vote, or you tried to vote illegally for someone else, we will find you and we will charge you. [27:58] Illegal voter registration and illegal voting both carry penalties up to five years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines. [28:09] We will pursue maximum pressure on this. [28:14] To let you know, we will be proactively looking at early voting and then after post-election, we will continue to scrub all those that did vote. [28:30] Those states that don't participate with us, they have public records of those that voted, which is where we found the 250,000 from the four states that don't participate with us. [28:41] We will go through those records one by one and we will pursue everybody. [28:47] We will make sure that people know they can trust our elections. [28:53] If states want the grant funding to recap, they must secure the elections. [29:01] I want to thank President Trump's proactive approach to this. [29:06] He has put together a remarkable team that not only is informing the public about what's going on, but we're also informing Congress, we're informing our states, and we're going to secure our elections. [29:22] States must be aware of the real threats for voter registration and the system breaches. [29:29] And I do want to reemphasize the system breaches. [29:32] Our machines are vulnerable. [29:35] There are steps that can be made right now that can secure those. [29:41] I would ask not just the public, but the media. [29:46] That question should be asked of blue states because we have red states participating with us. [29:53] We have some red states that aren't. [29:55] Every state that's not participating with us should be asked the hard question, why not? [29:59] What are you afraid of? [30:01] If they're not willing to do it, it should raise serious questions. [30:07] It's not that hard. [30:08] This isn't a partisan issue. [30:11] So, in conclusion, to recap, under President Trump's leadership, DHS is well prepared to support all states, red states, blue states, and local election officials ahead of the midterms. [30:26] States must do their part to secure our election system, and we stand by to help. [30:33] If you are an illegal or you're voting illegally, we will hunt you down, we will find you, and we will prosecute you. [30:45] The American people must have confidence in our elections. [30:48] Election security is not a partisan issue in Homeland Security. [30:52] We're here to support everybody, the American people, the states, even the media, to get access and the information they need to hold the states accountable. [31:04] So, with that, I'll open up for questions. [31:08] Yes, ma'am. [31:12] I think I like the data color better than the Daily Mail. [31:17] I really don't like it. [31:38] First of all, great question. [31:39] Thank you. [31:40] When we start talking about can we ensure that the midterm elections are going to be secure? [31:46] Yes. [31:47] We absolutely can build confidence in the American people. [31:50] But the states have to do their part. [31:53] I will tell you, if the states that choose not to participate with the SAVE program, and they choose not to participate in securing the elections, we will make sure that we make those states a priority. [32:04] to look at who voted in their states and hold then the election officials accountable. [32:09] If the election officials, once we gave them the information they need to secure their elections, and they chose not to, then those individuals can also be held accountable by fines, by penalties, and even, depending on how far it goes, prison time. [32:27] Let me get a follow-up question, and I'll get to you guys. [32:30] Hold on one sec. [32:31] Yes. [32:32] Secretary. [32:33] There's no question the intelligent community from the FBI, CIA, and even other places within DHS, not underneath President Trump's leadership, but that was underneath the Biden administration, kept it from President Trump and the American people in Congress. [32:59] We are currently going through those lists. [33:02] We will hold each one of them accountable. [33:04] Some people aren't here. [33:05] Some people are no longer in the agencies. [33:08] Those that are, we will be held accountable. [33:10] Those that abused their role in this will definitely be held accountable because there is no excuse. [33:16] If you purposely disobeyed the law and you purposely went around statute, then you have an accountability, you have a legal reason to be held accountable. [33:30] Yes, sir. [33:32] Yeah. [33:34] Sir, I have not heard that at all, but we understand that it's being investigated and we'll allow the investigation to go through. [34:02] That's all I'm going to say about that. [34:04] Yes. [34:06] Hi. [34:07] Thank you so much. [34:08] Kara Pastranova from . [34:09] I got back here in the back. [34:10] Thank you. [34:11] Thank you, guys. [34:12] This is Kara from Lindell TV. [34:13] Thank you so much for doing this briefing today. [34:15] Is there any analysis on what went wrong with SISA in 2020 and the premature analysis that it was the most safe and secure election? [34:21] It's now being revealed that obviously it was not. [34:24] Will Chris Krebs or anybody that was involved in that premature analysis be held accountable? [34:28] Everybody that purposely misled the American people, abused their power and their authority and decided not to continue doing their job will be held accountable. [34:39] What does that accountability look like? [34:41] I don't know. [34:42] Is it criminal? [34:43] We'll pursue criminal charges. [34:44] If it is not criminal, we'll make sure you never work for the federal government again and you never have the ability to have a clearance again. [34:51] Yes. [34:52] Right here. [34:53] I will look this way next. [34:54] I promise. [34:55] Some of your numbers were the 278,000 non-citizens from voter rolls. [34:59] Any indication of how many people actually voted or the 400,000 are actually deceased? [35:08] Any indication of the total number of people that did vote and what is your ballpark for how many of these people are actually voted? [35:15] So those that we've identified, the 278,000 non-citizens and the 400,000 deceased, we are now going through that record. [35:24] We're standing up at a department in DHS. [35:27] Heather Honey, who is doing a great job exposing all this and working with the team together. [35:33] Joe Edlow with USCIS and other teams. [35:37] We are going through these files one by one. [35:40] And one, identifying the individual. [35:42] Two, did they vote? [35:43] And three, where did they vote at? [35:45] That's a hard, it's easy with states that participate. [35:48] So the 28,000 that we identified with, the 23 states that are working with us, that system can be very easily exposed, all 28,000. [36:00] The problem is, as an activist, judges now have put a hold on it and so we're pending the case. [36:04] Once it's turned back on, we'll vote and move fast. [36:07] And the 24,000, or the 250,000 in the four, just four of the blue states. [36:12] Meaning, what were the states? [36:14] So I got it right. [36:15] California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Nevada. [36:18] Those are going to be a little bit tougher because we're going to file paperwork for FOIA, even us, to try to get that information from the states. [36:26] And, but we will, I don't care how long it takes, we will go by this one by one. [36:33] And everybody that did vote illegally, we will prosecute. [36:36] We'll bring up for prosecution. [36:37] Yes. [36:38] By the way, it's very smart wearing a red dress because you catch everybody's eyes. [36:46] Same thing with the, what color is that? [36:49] Peach? [36:50] Orange? [36:52] I don't think that's orange. [36:53] That's peach. [36:54] That's definitely peach. [36:58] That lawmakers, like the entire special accident that's discredited, it seems likely that the blue states will not participate in your efforts. [37:07] So how do you plan to respond to that? [37:09] And then on my second question, on the traffic stops, did the president know about that decision before you made it? [37:16] And hopefully it didn't work. [37:18] Yeah, so let's talk about the major networks not willing to carry the president of the United States address to the nation on election security. [37:27] How shameful is that? [37:29] I think it was ABC, NBC, and I don't know if CBS, did CBS carry it? [37:34] Anybody? [37:35] CBS carried it. [37:36] So ABC and NBC not carrying that? [37:37] Why? [37:38] What are they trying to cover up? [37:40] Why wouldn't they want to inform the American people? [37:43] Why are they calling themselves a news outlet if they're not actually trying to put the news out there? [37:50] We wasn't giving spin on the election. [37:53] The president wasn't trying to re-litigate what happened in 2020, although he definitely could at this point. [37:59] The president was giving facts. [38:02] What we have exposed. [38:04] What the Biden administration covered up. [38:08] What the intelligence community held from the American people, Congress, and the executive branch. [38:15] And we're putting it out there. [38:17] And yet two major networks didn't want to cover it? [38:21] I think the question really should say why. [38:25] Because they sure covered the other part of it when they were saying that it was the most secure election ever. [38:31] What facts did they have? [38:33] Because they didn't have facts. [38:34] They were taking someone's word for it. [38:36] President Trump gave facts. [38:38] Today we're giving facts. [38:39] When you start talking about the president and I, the president and I are very close. [38:45] I was texting with him this morning. [38:47] He and I are in, I mean, there's no daylight between us and the enforcement. [38:54] And in fact, we have ramped up our enforcement and our arresting illegals. [39:01] Just to give you some numbers on this so everybody knows. [39:04] And I want to get them correct, so I brought them with me. [39:07] Last year total in 2025, we deported. [39:11] Now these are not including self-deportations. [39:14] These are just ones that we had to go through. [39:16] We had to arrest. [39:17] We had to go through the system and we had to deport. [39:19] And they tried to stay inside the country and they had no legal status to do it. [39:23] 442,637 total deported last year in 2025. [39:30] To date, well, these are yesterday's numbers. [39:34] We have 403,294 that we've done in 2026. [39:39] Our arrests are up. [39:41] We're hitting single day records every single day. [39:44] But what we've done is I've turned down the temperature of the stove to try to get it correct without boiling over. [39:51] We're trying to perfect our ability to work with local law enforcement, state law enforcement, and get illegals and criminals off our streets. [40:03] 70% of the arrests we do daily are felons or have pending felony charges. [40:11] 70%. [40:12] We should all be able to work together with that. [40:14] Total removals is 3 million. [40:19] Total removal is 3 million. [40:22] 1.4 total aliens have been, since we've been put in place, have ever volunteered to be deported, yet we paid for them or we forced them. [40:36] But as I said, total removals have said, hey, we're leaving the country and did it on themselves was over 3 million. [40:41] Yes. [40:42] I'm sorry. [40:48] Who did you say your name? [40:49] CBS News. [40:50] Well, thank you for covering last night. [40:51] Absolutely. [40:52] I want to ask about foreign interference in arms, but just first, since you mentioned turning down the temperature, what assurances can you give Americans that ICE officers will face consequences if they violate DHS's use of force policy? [41:07] And who will make that determination? [41:09] And can you commit now to making that determination public? [41:13] Let me clarify, when I say turn down the temperature, when I turn down the temperature with you guys, we're turning up the heat on the streets. [41:21] We're out there working harder than we ever have because we've empowered our law enforcement to do their job. [41:28] What I'm trying to do is remove us from the headlines every single day, but everybody will be held accountable. [41:34] I don't pick and choose which laws I'm going to enforce. [41:38] I enforce our nation's laws. [41:40] That means I'll enforce it with our own agency and I'll force it with the criminals on the streets. [41:45] That's my assurance. [41:48] Yes. [41:50] Go ahead. [41:51] And I saw you stand up. [41:52] I'll get to you next. [41:53] Go ahead. [42:00] Yeah. [42:19] So when we start talking about enforcing, first of all, the states to work with us and then the scope moving forward, I obviously can't force the states. [42:26] But the states always look to us for reimbursement when it comes to when it comes to helping with the elections. [42:34] It's expensive to put on election. [42:36] I mean, think about every precinct in every county and then statewide. [42:39] We are not going to spend taxpayer dollars reimbursing a state that is refusing to secure their elections. [42:47] And we're not saying do it alone. [42:49] We're saying we're going to help you. [42:50] We're going to give you the tools to need it. [42:51] We're going to give you the training to need it. [42:52] We're going to give you the funding to do it. [42:55] We're going to expose the vulnerabilities. [42:57] And all you have to do is use those, that information and the finances and the training we're going to give you to secure it. [43:05] If you do it, we'll reimburse you. [43:07] If you don't, we won't. [43:10] Last question. [43:11] Hold on. [43:12] I'm getting the guy right there in the back. [43:14] Secretary, Neil W. McCabe, Real America's Voice. [43:17] What are your former Republican Senate colleagues telling you? [43:20] Are they in a mood to house Majority Leader John Coon if he refuses to pass the Save America Act or can't figure out how to pass the Save America Act? [43:31] I haven't heard that at all from the Senate saying they're willing to vote John out. [43:35] John is a good friend of mine. [43:38] He's a good friend of most people in there. [43:40] Now, there's a difference of opinion. [43:42] I think the Save Act should be passed tomorrow. [43:44] I think it should have already been passed. [43:46] There's no excuse for it not being passed. [43:49] However, he has a vote problem. [43:52] There's a number. [43:55] Leader Thune supports the Save Act. [43:57] He voted for the Save Act when it came up during the Voterama. [44:01] Except everybody controls their own card. [44:04] And even, I think the last time the vote came up, there was 49 that voted. [44:10] Even if we did away with the filibuster, it still requires 51. [44:14] So, I know Leader Thune is working hard on that. [44:17] But it's, he's got a very, very difficult task ahead. [44:20] Yes. [44:21] Let me, let me, let me just get to, I'm sorry. [44:25] I told this guy with a paper I'd get to him. [44:27] And then this is the last question. [44:28] I have to go. [44:29] I'm so sorry. [44:30] Yes. [44:31] I'm just wondering if the officers involved in the human mainstream, are they still on administrative leave? [44:38] Why, why, why, any investigation that is going through, I don't care which law enforcement. [44:42] I don't care if you're local PD, if you're county, if you're state, or if you're federal. [44:48] When there's a shooting involved, standard practice is that individual goes on administrative leave while the investigation is going through. [44:57] And we, we do it, we do it the same way. [44:59] So, thank you guys so much. [45:00] Appreciate it.