Feds Pursuing 'multiple' Election Fraud Investigations, Top Prosecutor Says

First Assistant U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli connected Friday greeting said his agency “has aggregate predetermination fraud investigations underway,” successful coordination pinch nan FBI successful Los Angeles.

Essayli’s remarks, posted to X, seemed to beryllium successful consequence to President Trump alleging in his ain societal media post precocious Wednesday that Democrats successful California were “cheating” successful nan state’s superior election, and that location was an investigation underway successful Essayli’s office.

Essayli’s agency besides confirmed that 1 of its prosecutors — Assistant U.S. Atty. Robert Renner — was astatine a Los Angeles County ballot processing halfway Friday “to observe nan ballot counting process.”

Democratic officials firmly rejected Trump’s claims of cheating, which they had warned he would make successful beforehand of nan predetermination fixed his agelong grounds of objecting to and claiming fraud successful elections he and his statement lose.

Trump provided nary grounds for his claims, different than to kick astir California taking a agelong clip to count ballots and criticizing its message ballot system, suggesting it was a root of fraud. California officials person acknowledged nan process takes longer than they would like, but said that is simply a consequence of a careful, meticulous count of millions of ballots, galore of which were mailed connected predetermination day.

“Taking nan clip to do this activity correctly protects voters’ authorities and ensures nan integrity of our elections,” California Secretary of State Shirley Weber said Thursday. “California has built a beardown strategy that expands access, empowers voters, and ensures much Californians tin afloat participate successful our democracy.”

Essayli — a Trump loyalist nan management has kept successful complaint of 1 of nan country’s largest national prosecutor’s offices through a ineligible loophole, and contempt his failing to beryllium confirmed by nan Senate — besides provided fewer specifications successful his Friday post, saying he would not remark “on immoderate circumstantial investigation.”

He said that protecting California’s elections is “a apical priority” for his office, and that “California’s predetermination strategy has superior structural vulnerabilities.”

He said California’s message ballot system, which a immense mostly of voters trust connected successful nan state, and its elector ID requirements -- he said location were none, but California does person measures to guarantee voters are who they opportunity they are, including signature verification -- create “conditions wherever fraud tin spell undetected and unpunished, eroding nationalist confidence.”

“We will travel nan grounds wherever it leads and prosecute immoderate violations of national predetermination rule to nan fullest extent,” Essayli said.

He besides noted that his agency is moving pinch Assistant Atty. Gen. Harmeet Dhillon, caput of nan Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, to “conduct a broad audit of California’s elector rolls.”

The Justice Department sued nan authorities for its elector rolls, successful a suit that was thrown retired by a national judge who called nan request “unprecedented and illegal” and accused nan national authorities of trying to “abridge nan correct of galore Americans to formed their ballots.”

The Justice Department appealed nan ruling, and nan lawsuit is now earlier nan U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

“The authorities has stonewalled each effort to verify that only eligible U.S. citizens are registered to vote,” Essayli wrote. “My agency will not look nan different way. We will analyse and prosecute. Every ineligible ballot deserves to beryllium counted. Every forbidden ballot cancels 1 out.”

Essayli’s agency did not supply immoderate further accusation astir Renner’s beingness astatine nan region balloting center.

Dean Logan, caput of nan L.A. County registrar-recorder/county clerk’s office, did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.

California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta’s agency has besides been progressive successful monitoring ballot processing successful nan state, including during past year’s ballot connected Proposition 50. Bonta’s agency did not instantly respond to a petition for remark Friday.