The Trump administration says it’s looking at election fraud in California.First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said Friday that his office is investigating multiple instances of election fraud in the state as it continues to count votes from Tuesday’s primary elections, but he didn’t give any specifics.“Protecting the integrity of California’s elections is a top priority for my office,” Essayli wrote on X. “We will follow the evidence wherever it leads and prosecute any violations of federal election law to the fullest extent.”The day before, President Trump complained on Truth Social about “big cheating by the Democrats in California” and announced that federal prosecutors were investigating California’s gubernatorial election.“The Dumocrats are at it again! They are trying to STEAL THE GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA PRIMARY, AND THE MAYOR OF LOS ANGELES, PRIMARY, AWAY FROM TWO GREAT REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES. Here we go with the very late and massive numbers of MAIL IN BALLOTS,” Trump also posted.Trump hasn’t provided any proof for his claims, but it appears he has enlisted Essayli to try to find it, even though the prosecutor was reprimanded in October for staying as acting U.S. attorney for too long.California, the most populous state in the U.S., with a strong Democratic voter majority, has an election system with all of the things Trump and Republicans rail against: universal vote-by-mail, no voter ID laws, and late deadlines for mail-in ballots. State officials aren’t paying heed to Trump’s attacks, and note that state law allows counties up to 30 days to count eligible ballots.“Accuracy comes before speed,” California Secretary of State Shirley Weber said in a statement. “California is the nation’s largest voting state, with millions of ballots to process and count. Taking the time to do this work correctly protects voters’ rights and ensures the integrity of our elections.”California Governor Gavin Newsom’s press office had more blunt words for the president on election night, posting on X, “Trump is lying about California again—time to take the phone away from grandpa and put him to sleep.”
