Federal Prosecutor in California Says Voter Fraud Probe Could Yield Criminal Charges

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli says his office is partnering with the FBI on multiple election fraud investigations and accuses the state of blocking access to voter rolls.

CALIFORNIA — Donald J.Trump posted on Truth Social on June 16, 2026 at 11:06 AM EST, posted on Truth Social on June 16, 2026, by mentioning the source (see justthenews) that a U.S. attorney in California suspects a voter fraud investigation will result in criminal charges. The post highlights a report detailing remarks by First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli, who warned that a federal probe into allegations of voter fraud in the state could lead to prosecutions. Essayli announced that his office is partnering with the FBI on multiple election fraud investigations and accused California of denying federal prosecutors access to voter registration records. He said his team and Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Harmeet Dhillon have been trying to audit the state’s voter rolls for over a year under the National Voter Registration Act, the Help America Vote Act and the Civil Rights Act (see justice.gov). “I expect people will be charged,” Essayli said during a Monday appearance on “The Glenn Beck Program.” “But we need a wide-scale audit of the California voter roll, which is what Harmeet and I have been trying to do for the last year.” He described California as “a fraudster’s paradise” for election fraud, health care fraud and hospice fraud alike. The remarks come amid scrutiny of the state’s most recent primary, in which more than 4.2 million mail-in ballots were returned and accepted. Under California law, mail-in ballots are counted as long as they are dropped off in person by 8 p.m. on Election Day or postmarked by Election Day and received by county election offices by the following Tuesday. Essayli acknowledged that successfully prosecuting widespread election fraud would face significant hurdles, noting that thousands of voters would need to be charged to prove misconduct changed the outcome of an election. U.S. Attorneys are the chief federal law enforcement officials in their respective districts, responsible for prosecuting federal crimes and representing the U.S. government in court (see wikipedia.org). The investigation and potential charges could fuel ongoing national debates about election integrity, particularly in California, the nation’s most populous state. Essayli did not provide evidence of voter fraud in the state or in the recent election, according to the Just The News report. Trump has posted about elections and domestic politics 141 times in the last 30 days, including 15 posts specifically on the subtopic of alleged 2020 election fraud.

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