Speaking to a conservative radio host on Monday, the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles made an unusually pointed prediction that cast doubt on the results of California\u2019s primary races, even as votes were still being counted.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will be charging some people,\u201d the prosecutor, Bill Essayli, told the host, Glenn Beck, delivering a promise that would most likely have been considered a violation of Justice Department policy under decades of past practice. \u201cIt will be election fraud charges in the next \u2014 I hate to put timelines on things \u2014 one or two months I believe. We need some of these results to be certified so we can prove some of the allegations.\u201d<\/p>\n
The declaration, issued by an outspoken loyalist to President Trump, was a vivid example of the Justice Department\u2019s approach to voting under the Trump administration. The agency is seeking to assert more control over elections and challenge how states conduct them, a shift that could have significant consequences in the midterm elections this year, when control of Congress hangs in the balance.<\/p>\n
It is part of a broader effort by Mr. Trump to undermine confidence in the elections by repeatedly making baseless claims of voter fraud. The playbook dates to his first run for office in 2016, when he raised the specter of a rigged vote during his campaign<\/a> and revisited the unfounded assertion even after he was declared the victor because Hillary Clinton had won the popular vote. In 2020, he revived the strategy, going so far as to try to overturn the results in swing states that had been won by Joseph R. Biden Jr.<\/p>\n In the last year alone, the Justice Department has sought voter roll data from most states<\/a>; sued those that have declined to comply; opened a criminal investigation<\/a> into 2020 election results in Fulton County, Ga., a state Mr. Trump narrowly lost that year; and demanded ballots from the 2024 race<\/a> from Wayne County, Mich.<\/p>\n The administration is \u201cthrowing everything against the wall that they can find, and nothing is sticking,\u201d said David Becker, a former voting rights lawyer at the Justice Department who is now the executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research.<\/p>\n \u201cAlmost all of their work is going back over conspiracy theorists\u2019 allegations that were debunked five years ago,\u201d he added. \u201cThey are running out of tools in their toolbox.\u201d<\/p>\n California appears to be an early testing ground, as Mr. Trump and his allies stoke doubt about election outcomes they do not like, despite a lack of evidence of widespread fraud.<\/p>\n According to Justice Department regulations, officials \u201cshould not engage in overt criminal investigative measures in matters involving alleged ballot fraud until the election in question has been concluded, its results certified, and all recounts and election contests concluded.\u201d<\/p>\n The same section declares that the Justice Department \u201cshould generally avoid interfering or appearing to interfere with election administration, tabulation, validation or certification.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked about Mr. Essayli\u2019s remarks, a department spokeswoman, Natalie Baldassarre, said that election integrity was a top administration priority, and insisted that the department had legal authority to enforce election law, including by requesting state voter rolls.<\/p>\n The investigations in California, she added, were \u201cin line with this authority, and will continue despite the state\u2019s unwillingness to comply and reassure voters that their elections are in fact free, fair and transparent.\u201d A spokesman for Mr. Essayli declined to comment.<\/p>\n The administration has already effectively dismantled its public integrity section in Washington, which had for years included round-the-clock legal advisers in the week leading up to a general election.<\/p>\n Its lawyers consulted with federal prosecutors and agents across the country about instances of possible election-related crimes, like ballot tampering or threats against candidates. Those lawyers tended to act as important checks on overly aggressive investigations that could be seen by the public as trying to affect the outcome of races.<\/p>\n Most often, the public integrity lawyers would advise investigators to proceed cautiously and quietly, rather than give more attention or importance to rumors or false accusations.<\/p>\n But under Mr. Trump, that institutional check has disappeared, with local U.S. attorneys encouraged to more aggressively investigate, prosecute and discuss their work on election fraud.<\/p>\n Mr. Essayli has not only loudly announced his investigations, but he has also dispatched a prosecutor to the offices where ballots were being counted. And he has appealed for anyone with evidence of voter fraud to come forward, saying that \u201cwhat we need right now are witnesses.\u201d<\/p>\n Since taking over as the top prosecutor in Los Angeles, Mr. Essayli, a former state assemblyman, has proved willing to carry out Mr. Trump\u2019s agenda. He has dropped cases against the president\u2019s allies; aggressively pursued charges against protesters rallying against the administration\u2019s immigration crackdown only to face a string of losses; and investigated California over its policies toward transgender athletes.<\/p>\n