President Donald Trump threatened California election officials with jail time hours after the Department of Justice (DOJ) warned that they could face “criminal exposure” if they do not disenfranchise thousands of voters the federal government has flagged as potential noncitizens.

“They will all go to jail for a long period of time!!!” the president wrote in a social media post Friday evening.

Trump’s threat marks the latest escalation in his administration’s effort to directly interfere with the midterms by challenging votes from 20,000 Californians whom it claims, without showing evidence, are possible noncitizens.

A federal judge issued a confident 30-page ruling Wednesday, ordering Ohio State University to immediately reverse the expulsion of Guy Christensen from its records, concluding that the university likely violated "foundational" constitutional rights.