{"id":687138,"date":"2026-06-06T02:25:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T02:25:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/687138\/"},"modified":"2026-06-06T02:25:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T02:25:11","slug":"doj-office-says-multiple-probes-of-california-elections-underway-after-trump-cries-foul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/687138\/","title":{"rendered":"DOJ office says \u2018multiple\u2019 probes of California elections underway after Trump cries foul"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"anchor-ba31c2\" class=\"body-graf\">A federal prosecutor in California said Friday that authorities have launched investigations tied to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/2026-primary-elections\/california-governor-results\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">the state\u2019s recent elections<\/a> following <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/donald-trump\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">President Donald Trump\u2019s<\/a> unsubstantiated claims of fraud.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,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\" alt=\"NBC News Icon\" class=\"styles_icon__wRwWv\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"styles_text__daaVB styles_textLarge__qlzwu\">Subscribe to read this story ad-free    <\/p>\n<p class=\"styles_text__daaVB\">Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/rockcms\/2026-01\/arrow-f55fa5.svg\" alt=\"arrow\" class=\"styles_arrow__tnruW\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-d287fa\" class=\"body-graf\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/justice-department\/federal-judge-rules-us-attorney-california-unlawfully-serving-role-rcna240409\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Bill Essayli<\/a>, first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/USAttyEssayli\/status\/2062889608787161176?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">said Friday morning on X<\/a> that his office was pursuing \u201cmultiple election fraud investigations\u201d alongside the FBI, without providing details.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-9210f1\" class=\"body-graf\">\u201cWe will follow the evidence wherever it leads and prosecute any violations of federal election law to the fullest extent,\u201d said Essayli, who criticized California\u2019s mail voting \u2014 a frequent target of Trump\u2019s false claims of election fraud.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-9dd33b\" class=\"body-graf\">The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment on any election-related investigations in California.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-45e82d\" class=\"body-graf\">Around the same time as Essayli\u2019s post, a federal prosecutor from the U.S. attorney\u2019s office visited the ballot processing center for Los Angeles County, the L.A. County registrar\u2019s office told NBC News on Friday.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-b56e3d\" class=\"body-graf\">The registrar\u2019s office said it was notified late Thursday that the U.S. attorney\u2019s office would be sending a government attorney to \u201cobserve ballot processing activities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-f55fa3\" class=\"body-graf\">\u201cThe individual arrived this morning, was provided an overview of the public observation program, and participated in a walkthrough of the ballot processing operations,\u201d a spokesperson for the registrar said Friday.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-b0fc5b\" class=\"body-graf\">The spokesperson said that ballot processing is open to public observation and that election officials \u201croutinely host observers representing a wide range of interests\u201d including politicians, advocacy groups or members of the public.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-bfcbd9\" class=\"body-graf\">The Justice Department did not immediately respond to an inquiry about the prosecutor\u2019s visit.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-a6bb04\" class=\"body-graf\">The developments come a day after Trump claimed without evidence that Democrats are \u201ctrying to steal\u201d the California primary elections, which took place Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-597fcc\" class=\"body-graf\">\u201cThere\u2019s BIG cheating by the Dumocrats in California. Votes are all tied up. May not be in for weeks,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/posts\/116690093479247202\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Trump wrote on Truth Social<\/a>. \u201cUnder investigation by the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office in Los Angeles. Why the vote counting DELAY???\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780704639867_now_staytuned_becerra_advance_260605_S3_1920x1080-x5kaqm.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-4fb26d\" class=\"body-graf\">Under California\u2019s vote-by-mail system, it often takes several days for a winner to be announced in competitive races. Ballots postmarked on or before election day and received within seven days after the election are eligible to be counted, according to state laws.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-1973c2\" class=\"body-graf\">In 2022, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat, was not announced as the winner until eight days after election day. Bass is seeking another term and has advanced to the November election, NBC News projects.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-4a2888\" class=\"body-graf\">Mail ballots, which are counted over a series of days, often favor Democratic candidates in the blue-leaning state.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-292665\" class=\"body-graf\">Under California\u2019s system, the top two candidates in the primary race move on to the general election in November, regardless of what party they belong to.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-1be33d\" class=\"body-graf\">But as the count drags on for primary races across the state, Trump and his allies, including Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton, are ramping up their criticism of the vote-counting process.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-e74321\" class=\"body-graf\">As of Friday evening, NBC News projected that Democratic gubernatorial candidate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/2026-election\/democrat-xavier-becerra-advances-california-governors-race-rcna347480\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Xavier Becerra will advance<\/a> to the general election, with Hilton and Democratic candidate Tom Steyer competing for the second spot.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-69823e\" class=\"endmark body-graf\">In the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/2026-primary-elections\/los-angeles-mayor-results\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Los Angeles mayor\u2019s race,<\/a> Trump-endorsed Spencer Pratt is vying with Democrat Nithya Raman to take on Bass in November.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A federal prosecutor in California said Friday that authorities have launched investigations tied to the state\u2019s recent elections&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":687139,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4,450,451,3,452,453],"class_list":["post-687138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=687138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687138\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/687139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=687138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=687138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=687138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}