US attorney opens investigation into California elections-sends prosecutor to LA
7 hours ago
- #Trump Election Claims
- #Election Fraud Investigations
- #California Vote Count
- U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli announced multiple election fraud investigations related to California's elections and sent a prosecutor to observe Los Angeles County's vote-counting center.
- The investigations followed baseless claims by President Donald Trump of mass fraud in California's prolonged vote count, where late Democratic-leaning mail ballots were affecting results for his preferred candidates.
- Trump, in Wisconsin, repeated claims without evidence that Democrats were rigging the election, calling California 'a crooked state' and falsely attributing shifts in vote totals to fraud.
- An assistant U.S. attorney visited the ballot processing center, was briefed on public observation, and observed operations, as election officials noted they routinely host observers.
- Republican candidate Steve Hilton, Trump's pick for governor, called for election law changes to limit mail ballots to requested voters only and impose an Election Day deadline, though he acknowledged no evidence of illegal activity.
- Hilton criticized the slow vote count as embarrassing and proposed sending state workers to counties to speed it up, but election officials rejected the idea as disruptive and impractical.
- The dynamics of California's primary, where late-counted mail ballots from Democrats often reduce early leads by Republican candidates, contribute to prolonged vote tallies and conspiracy theories.