U.S. DOJ continues elections investigation, fight to audit California’s voter rolls | CA Politics 360
First Assistant US Attorney Bill Staley, thank you so much for making time for us. Absolutely, thanks for having me. So you said earlier this week you opened voter fraud investigations. What’s the status of those right now? Yes, so there’s, there’s *** few things going on. Um, one thing is, you know, there’s *** lot of talk in the media that there’s no evidence of voter fraud, so we just wanted to be very clear about that. That there is evidence that in fact, we charged *** case just last month of an individual who was paying homeless people to register to vote with uh fictitious information. So it’s, that’s not *** theory. There is evidence of voter fraud, and what I’ve said is that we have other similar multiple investigations that are ongoing under long standing DOJ rules. We can’t discuss the specifics of any investigation, but they are ongoing, and I do believe they will result in criminal charges in the near future. OK, are you able to say If like any one governmental like state or local agency is under investigation by your office, so we don’t, we don’t ever discuss who’s under investigation or what the nature of the investigation is, and that’s to protect mainly innocent people in case we don’t end up charging them, but also the integrity of the investigation. What I have said is we will follow the evidence wherever it goes, um, and we have various investigations at various stages. So some of them are more developed and they’re ready to charge. Others are brand new and being worked up, and we are getting tips every day from the public, um, of potential leads of, of new cases. So. There’s *** lot of things going on. It’s not just one case. There are multiple cases. I think sort of the question you’re getting to, Ashley, and *** lot of reporters will ask is, is this widespread fraud? How, how spread is it? And I think that’s really the question we’re trying to answer. I don’t have an answer for that because those require intense investigations. And so, what I can say right now is, are there, is there. Evidence of fraud? Yes, there are. Are they just multiple isolated incidences, or is there some bigger connection to the two? That’s under investigation and, and we’re gonna get to the bottom of that. But I just, what I don’t understand is the resistance from leaders, elected officials, and the media to resist looking into these claims. And so, we’re not prejudging anything, we’re not. We’re not concluding anything. All I’ve said is our office is taking this seriously. We’ll follow the evidence wherever it goes. There are investigations. They will result in charges, and we’d like to get to the bottom of how widespread this goes. And you know, that’s also why we’re calling for an audit. I think the audit. Is the best way to reassure the public that there isn’t widespread fraud, and that’s something that we’ve demanded the state of California comply with, but so far they’ve resisted and I want to actually talk about that audit in *** second, but just to circle back, I know you mentioned the media. People are pointing out that there is no proof of fraud. I mean, *** lot of that is related to the president’s comments. About this election, he’s claiming it’s rigged, and I know your office again is making clear that you’re investigating, but have you been talking with the president? Like where is he getting the idea that it could be rigged? I mean, you’ll have to ask the White House about that. I mean, I think what the president is saying is he’s frustrated. I think *** lot of us were as *** former legislator in Sacramento, you know, rigged doesn’t necessarily have to mean he. Legal. I mean, when you talk about the way California conducts elections, most people would consider that highly suspicious. The fact that they don’t check, uh, citizenship status when you register to vote, the fact that you can register to vote with the gym membership card, uh, *** lot of people think that’s, that’s suspicious. The fact that California does universal vote by mail, so everyone gets *** ballot in the mail, whether you’re dead or alive, whether. You want one or you don’t, that’s suspicious. The fact that California allows um unregulated ballot harvesting, meaning anyone can go handle and solicit people’s ballots, and there’s no chain of custody, that’s suspicious, and that’s actually something that’s outlawed in *** lot of states. And then on top of that, we have no voter ID. So, I think, you know, the president, when he says rigged, um, you know, people are thinking like, you know. Quote unquote fraud, but I think he’s referring to just the entire system as *** whole breeds suspicion, and it’s not one that promotes the idea that we have integrity in our elections. OK, so, so back to the audit that you’re trying to do on the voter rolls, is that *** statewide audit? Were you seeking specific Jurisdictions. What, what can you tell us about that? Yes, so this is something that we’ve been litigating for the better part of the last year. Harmy Dillon, who’s the head of our civil rights section, uh, in our office, has been trying to audit the state voter rolls for the state of California. There are various civil rights statutes, including HAVA and NVRA. That give the attorney General the authority to request the voter rolls to confirm compliance with federal law. Federal law requires the state of California to make sure only citizens are registered to vote. And so, we want to do the audit to confirm compliance. Um, this is *** civil statute, so we have to go through the civil court process. We’ve sued California for refusing to comply with that audit. Um, we’re in court litigating that. It’s On the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, that is ongoing. We’re hoping for *** ruling soon and we’ll, we’ll continue litigating that. But I, I just, I don’t understand why California would not want to reassure the public that there is nothing nefarious. There is nothing suspicious, uh, with their voter rolls. Um, and audit and transparency is the best way to reassure voters that they should have confidence in the California’s election systems. Who, who in our state’s government like blocked that specifically? Who, when you initially reached out to try to do this, who said no? The Secretary of State, Shirley Webber and the Attorney General indicated that there were some letters that I, I published um of our communications back and forth, and they basically asserted that they were not going to comply under state privacy laws, that they were not going to provide voter roll information to the federal government. We had *** couple of exchanges before we went to court, and, uh, and I guess that would be. The Attorney General who’s litigating this on behalf of the Secretary of State. And, and I know you’ve told other media outlets this, but you, you have proof that there are, there are questionable aspects about the roles. Oh, I mean, I, I, I think the proof is all over. Just go, just go look online on people who say that they have dead relatives who are receiving ballots. They, you have family members who say, uh, people who have moved out of state continue to receive ballots. There’s all kinds of issues with the voter rolls. Being maintained. And so I think it’s no question that California’s voter rolls are absolutely filthy, dirty. They’re, they’re not clean, they haven’t been maintained, and we have questions about who’s on the voter rolls and particularly whether any non-citizens are on those voter rolls. We know the DMV admitted *** few years ago, Ashley, I know you know this, you’ve covered Sacramento for *** while. DMV admitted, I think, uh, you know, 4 or 5 years ago that they accidentally registered, I think, 20 or 30,000 non-citizens to vote. And so, again, this isn’t like *** theory, this is, this is reality. And, uh, you know, California is just hoping that people ignore it, I guess, forget about it and, and move on. But people want answers. And, you know, regardless of the outcome of the election, I, I don’t care about the outcome of the election. We just want to make sure that the federal laws are being followed. And I would hope that California want that too, because it doesn’t matter who wins, the public should have confidence that they’re legitimate winners of the election. In the same vein and, and apologies if I’m going back into this investigation, but I know there’s ***, *** video from Skid Row that has been concerning *** lot of folks online, um, people who appear to be unhoused are saying that groups approached them or someone approached them to, you know, encourage them to vote for someone, you know, and, and, and have their ballots dealt with that way. Is that something your office can and is investigating at this point? Yeah, we, we’ve seen those videos, they’ve been referred to us and, and that’s something we’re gonna take *** look at. I mean, we’re gonna look at everything that people provide, and I’ve said, we, you know, we don’t have *** predetermined outcome of any case. Um, what I will just say is we’re gonna follow the evidence wherever it goes. And, uh, and some cases are more developed, that’s why I’m, I’m confident in saying that I believe some of them will result in criminal. Charges, and then some of our investigations are still at the early stage. And so, there’s *** lot of things happening at once, but this is an important issue. It’s something people care about, and I think the public deserves to know if there is fraud and how much fraud is in their system. And I wish, much like healthcare fraud or hospice fraud, I wish California would work with us to try to root out these frauds. Monsters and to prevent the fraud from occurring in the first place. But for whatever reason, I don’t know if that’s just their, their TDS or their, you know, obsession with, with President Trump. They just are unable to, to work with us. They want to fight us at every, every battle, every corner, um, instead of working with us to improve the lives and the financial stability of the people of California. I know you, you had *** couple of ideas and lists of things that the state could do better in terms of its elections to give people more confidence. I mean, you were the vice chairman of the assembly’s elections committee when you were in the state legislature. Uh, is there anything else though that you think could help like could counties use more resources? I mean, do you have any insight. Um, being down there now that that you think could help restore confidence broadly in our elections. Well, you know, I think, uh, something the Trump administration has been pushing for is the voter ID requirement. There’s, um, uh, *** bill, I believe that’s being debated in Congress as we speak. I believe there’s *** ballot initiative that the voters are going to vote on. I think *** lot of states have voter ID and citizenship requirements, and I think that would go *** long way in, in, in preserving um the. Integrity and trust in the system. Um, you know, I think mail ballots are, unfortunately, you know, they’re, they’re here to stay. I think people generally like them, but we can work within the system to at least give people confidence that, um, even when we’re voting by mail, that it’s *** secure system. And so, uh, there are some proposals, you know, we gotta leave that up to the people of California, how they wanna move forward. But voter ID is *** huge one. Cleaning the voter rolls is ***, is *** simple, I mean, that sounds. Like *** small thing, it’s actually *** big thing because if you have dirty rolls, then you’re gonna have ballots going out, um, you know, you’re gonna have live ballots being circulated out in the mail, and you don’t know who’s handling those ballots, who’s filling them out, who’s returning them. So, there’s *** lot California can do. Um. So, I, uh, yeah, I mean, I think there’s *** lot of proposals. And I think ballot harvesting is, is very corrosive, I do. Um, it used to be that you can only handle the ballot of, of yourself and your immediate family members. But now, anyone can be paid to go. harass people for their ballots to, you know, to go take ballots and again, without *** chain of custody, it makes it very hard for investigators to sort of figure out where these ballots came from and who filled them out. And so, it’s *** lot of problems with the California system. All right. Well, US Attorney Bill, is there anything else you think we should know before we let you go? No, I mean, I just, at the Department of Justice, I’ll just say I’m not the election czar, I’m not the election official. I’m not here to fix the election system. What we have said and what we will do at the Department of Justice is we’re going to follow the evidence. We’re going to conduct investigations, and if we were, if we determine that any federal laws were violated, we’ll bring those cases forward, and that’s what we’re committed to doing here. All right, Mr. First Assistant, we really appreciate your time. Thank you. Thank you so much.
U.S. DOJ continues elections investigation, fight to audit California’s voter rolls | CA Politics 360
Updated: 8:25 AM PDT Jun 14, 2026
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said there is evidence of voter fraud as his office continues its investigation into the state’s election. In an interview on California Politics 360, Essayli said there are multiple investigations stemming from several tips. He would not disclose details or say whether they involve state or local governments. “Under longstanding DOJ rules, we can’t discuss the specifics of any investigation, but they are ongoing, and I do believe they will result in criminal charges in the near future,” Essayli said. “What I have said is we will follow the evidence wherever it goes,” Essayli said. “We’d like to get to the bottom of how widespread this goes.” Essayli noted the Department of Justice is currently feuding in court with California’s secretary of state and attorney general over an attempt to audit the state’s voter rolls. State officials have refused to provide information, pointing to privacy concerns. “I think the audit is the best way to reassure the public that there isn’t widespread fraud,” Essayli said. “And that’s something that we’ve demanded the state of California comply with. But so far they’ve resisted.” “There are various civil rights statutes, including HAVA (the Help America Vote Act) and VRA (Voting Rights Act), that give the Attorney General the authority to request the voter rolls to confirm compliance with federal law,” Essayli said. “Federal law requires the state of California to make sure only citizens are registered to vote. And so we want to do the audit to confirm compliance.”President Donald Trump repeatedly said this week that California’s election is rigged but has not provided specifics. When asked where he got the idea that it’s “rigged,” Essayli referred California Politics 360 to the White House. “I think what the president is saying is he’s frustrated,” Essayli said. “Rigged doesn’t necessarily have to mean illegal.” He also pointed to issues with California’s election system, including universal vote-by-mail, unregulated ballot harvesting, and the lack of voter ID requirements. “The fact that California allows unregulated ballot harvesting, meaning anyone can go handle and solicit people’s ballots and there’s no chain of custody, that’s suspicious,” Essayli said. “On top of that, we have no voter ID. So I think, you know, the president, when he says rigged, you know, people are thinking like, quote unquote fraud, but I think he’s referring to just the entire system as a whole breed suspicion.” Essayli also discussed videos circulating on social media showing apparently unhoused people on LA’s Skid Row claiming they were paid $5 to vote for Karen Bass for mayor. He also discussed reforms he thinks would help build confidence in the state’s elections system. You can watch the full interview in the video player above. KCRA 3 Political Director Ashley Zavala reports in-depth coverage of top California politics and policy issues. She is also the host of “California Politics 360.” Get informed each Sunday at 8:30 a.m. on KCRA 3.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said there is evidence of voter fraud as his office continues its investigation into the state’s election.
In an interview on California Politics 360, Essayli said there are multiple investigations stemming from several tips. He would not disclose details or say whether they involve state or local governments.
“Under longstanding DOJ rules, we can’t discuss the specifics of any investigation, but they are ongoing, and I do believe they will result in criminal charges in the near future,” Essayli said.
“What I have said is we will follow the evidence wherever it goes,” Essayli said. “We’d like to get to the bottom of how widespread this goes.”
Essayli noted the Department of Justice is currently feuding in court with California’s secretary of state and attorney general over an attempt to audit the state’s voter rolls. State officials have refused to provide information, pointing to privacy concerns.
“I think the audit is the best way to reassure the public that there isn’t widespread fraud,” Essayli said. “And that’s something that we’ve demanded the state of California comply with. But so far they’ve resisted.”
“There are various civil rights statutes, including HAVA (the Help America Vote Act) and VRA (Voting Rights Act), that give the Attorney General the authority to request the voter rolls to confirm compliance with federal law,” Essayli said. “Federal law requires the state of California to make sure only citizens are registered to vote. And so we want to do the audit to confirm compliance.”
President Donald Trump repeatedly said this week that California’s election is rigged but has not provided specifics. When asked where he got the idea that it’s “rigged,” Essayli referred California Politics 360 to the White House.
“I think what the president is saying is he’s frustrated,” Essayli said. “Rigged doesn’t necessarily have to mean illegal.”
He also pointed to issues with California’s election system, including universal vote-by-mail, unregulated ballot harvesting, and the lack of voter ID requirements.
“The fact that California allows unregulated ballot harvesting, meaning anyone can go handle and solicit people’s ballots and there’s no chain of custody, that’s suspicious,” Essayli said. “On top of that, we have no voter ID. So I think, you know, the president, when he says rigged, you know, people are thinking like, quote unquote fraud, but I think he’s referring to just the entire system as a whole breed suspicion.”
Essayli also discussed videos circulating on social media showing apparently unhoused people on LA’s Skid Row claiming they were paid $5 to vote for Karen Bass for mayor. He also discussed reforms he thinks would help build confidence in the state’s elections system. You can watch the full interview in the video player above.
KCRA 3 Political Director Ashley Zavala reports in-depth coverage of top California politics and policy issues. She is also the host of “California Politics 360.” Get informed each Sunday at 8:30 a.m. on KCRA 3.