William Barr, the US attorney-general, on Monday authorised prosecutors to investigate possible instances of electoral fraud in the presidential poll, a break from past practice that delayed such probes until after an election was settled.
The move came as Donald Trump continued to make claims without providing evidence of fraud in the victory of his Democratic rival, Joe Biden. The president has refused to concede to Mr Biden, instead filing lawsuits that have been received sceptically by the courts.
FT reports that the Trump campaign on Monday filed a new case in Pennsylvania. Mr Barr issued memo to US attorneys across the country authorising prosecutors to investigate “clear and apparently-credible allegations of irregularities that, if true, could potentially impact the outcome of a federal election in an individual state”.
He added: “Nothing here should be taken as any indication that the department has concluded that voting irregularities have impacted the outcome of any election.” Recommended US presidential election 2020 You tell us: US voters chose Biden. Now what? Justice department practice has been to wait until election results have been certified and settled before pushing forward with such investigations. Mr Barr’s memo noted that he has already authorised certain probes relating to the 2020 election.
The attorney-general has been among Mr Trump’s most stalwart allies in a cabinet characterised by a frequent personnel turnover. In recent months, Mr Barr has echoed the president’s messaging about the risks of allowing mail-in votes. There has not been evidence of significant voter fraud in this year’s election or to support Mr Trump’s allegations of a conspiracy to determine the result. “It is deeply unfortunate that the attorney-general Barr chose to issue a memorandum that will only fuel the ‘specious, speculative, fanciful or far-fetched claims’ he professes to guard against,” said Bob Bauer, a senior legal adviser to Mr Biden’s campaign.
“But, in the end, American democracy is stronger than any clumsy and cynical partisan political scheme. Joe Biden, who won the presidency with more votes than any president-elect in American history, will take the oath of office on January 20 2021.”
Recommended Rana Foroohar Joe Biden can get plenty done, even if Congress is divided Mr Trump shared a report about the attorney-general’s action on Twitter without comment. The memo triggered the resignation of the official who oversaw voter fraud prosecutions through the justice department’s election crimes branch, according to The New York Times. Richard Pilger is a longtime career prosecutor was director of the branch since 2010.
In response to an email seeking comment, Mr Pilger’s inbox issued an automatic response confirming that he had resigned as director of the branch but remained at the justice department in a non-supervisory role. A spokeswoman for the justice department did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Mr Barr’s memo was issued following a meeting earlier on Monday with Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senate majority leader. Mr McConnell has refused to acknowledge Mr Biden’s election victory, saying the president was “100 per cent within his rights to look into allegations of irregularities and weigh his legal options”. Mr Biden was projected to be the election’s winner by multiple US media organisations, including Fox News which has historically supported the Trump administration.
Though vote counting is not completed, Mr Biden has a significant lead in several swing states that would ensure his victory. This includes Pennsylvania, where he leads by over 45,000 votes, more than Mr Trump’s margin of victory in the state in 2016. Most of the president’s legal challenges have been rejected by the courts for lack of evidence to support his campaign’s claims of election irregularities. Recommended US presidential election 2020 Mitch McConnell: a thorn in the side of a Biden administration Mr Trump has had legal success on relatively minor issues, such as how close Republican election observers could stand to poll workers counting ballots. The litigation has forestalled the transition process, a formal exercise in which an incoming administration sends teams into government agencies to ensure a smooth handover of power in January.
The General Services Administration, an agency that oversees transitions and is run by a Trump appointee, has declined to allow the process to begin. The Biden transition team has called on the GSA to “promptly” ascertain Mr Biden as the winner of the election now that the race had been “independently called”.
