Investigations Launched Amid California Election Fraud Claims

A federal prosecutor in California announced that investigations related to the state’s recent elections have been initiated. This follows President Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated claims of election fraud. Bill Essayli, first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, stated that his office is pursuing several election fraud investigations in collaboration with the FBI. He did not share specific details.

Essayli emphasized that they intend to follow the evidence thoroughly and prosecute any violations of federal election laws. His comments also included criticism of California’s mail voting system, which has been a frequent target of Trump’s unverified election fraud allegations.

At the time of Essayli’s announcement, a federal prosecutor from the U.S. attorney’s office paid a visit to the ballot processing center in Los Angeles County, as confirmed by the L.A. County registrar’s office to NBC News. The office had informed them on Thursday that a government attorney would be observing the ballot processing activities.

The individual arrived this morning, was given an overview of the public observation program, and took part in a walkthrough of the ballot processing operations,

a spokesperson for the registrar stated. They noted that ballot processing is open to public observation and election officials regularly host observers from various interest groups.

The Department of Justice has not yet responded to inquiries about the prosecutor’s visit.

These developments followed Trump’s baseless claim that Democrats are attempting to “steal” the California primary elections, which were conducted on Tuesday. Trump posted on Truth Social expressing concerns about potential voting irregularities and delays in vote counting.

California’s vote-by-mail system can result in delays as ballots postmarked by election day are counted if they arrive within a week after the election. For instance, in 2022, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat, wasn’t declared the winner until eight days post-election.

The ongoing vote count has brought criticism from Trump and his allies, including Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton, who are questioning the process. NBC News has projected that Democratic gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra will advance to the general election, with Hilton and Democrat Tom Steyer vying for a spot.

In the Los Angeles mayor’s race, Trump-supported Spencer Pratt is contending with Democrat Nithya Raman to face Karen Bass in November.