US attorney in California announces unspecified 'election fraud' probes after Trump claims

Andrew Graham, The Sacramento Bee on Jun 5, 2026

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — In a vaguely worded social media post, Central District of California Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said his agency was working with the FBI on “multiple election fraud investigations,” as federal officials followed President Donald Trump’s lead and raised doubts about California’s election integrity amid its slow vote-counting process.

“Without commenting on any specific investigation, my office has multiple election fraud investigations underway in coordination with (the FBI’s Los Angeles office),” Essayli posted on X Friday morning. “We will follow the evidence wherever it leads and prosecute any violations of federal election law to the fullest extent.”

His post came a day after Trump, without any evidence, accused Democrats of stealing votes in the primary election, where large numbers of ballots remain to be counted. Trump also suggested Essayli’s office was investigating the counting process.

But an Essayli spokesperson did not respond to questions from The Sacramento Bee about whether the prosecutor, a former Republican state lawmaker and outspoken Trump supporter, was referring in his Friday post to a broad investigation into the primary election or inquiries into individual bad actors who may have committed some form of voter fraud.

In a second post, Essayli wrote that, “there is evidence of election fraud in California.” He cited as evidence a case federal prosecutors charged last month, in which they alleged a signature gatherer for ballot measures paid people to sign her petitions (such collectors are often paid by the signature) and in at least one case paid a person to register to vote so that she could then collect their signature.

Although criminal if proven, such a case is nowhere close to representative of the widespread, systemic and Democrat-driven fraud alleged by the president.

But, “more investigations are underway,” Essayli wrote.

Voter fraud is extremely rare, in California — as it is nationally. The conservative Heritage Foundation maintains a database of proven cases of voter fraud that lists 71 instances in California, stretching back to 1993. Trump however has repeatedly suggested America’s elections are fraudulent without evidence and despite repeated inquiries failing to turn up any fraud. His allegations have taken widespread root among his supporters.

The fraud allegations come on the heels of Republican candidates leading or in second place in the two elections the president is focused on: the Los Angeles mayoral race and the gubernatorial primary. Republicans worry those candidates will lose their lead as more votes are counted, with later-filed ballots predicted to lean more toward Democrats.

Also on Friday, a video circulated widely by conservatives online showed Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Renner, a prosecutor in Essayli’s office, visiting Los Angeles County’s ballot processing center. But federal officials did not serve any subpoenas or warrants during that visit. Renner instead received what amounted to a pre-arranged tour of the facility from county election workers.

“Our office was notified late yesterday that the U.S. Attorney’s Office would be sending an Assistant U.S. Attorney to the Ballot Processing Center to observe ballot processing activities,” said Mike Sanchez, a spokesperson for Los Angeles County’s election agency, in a statement. “The individual arrived this morning, was provided an overview of the public observation program, and participated in a walk through of the ballot processing operations.”

Ahead of the primary, the Legislature passed and Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new law making it a crime for law enforcement officials to seize ballots, voter rolls or election technology without a court order. The bill applied to federal and local officials. It’s not clear to what extent it could actually block a federal investigation. The law requires the Attorney General’s Office to give election officials guidance on how to respond to requests by law enforcement agencies to areas where ballots are cast, handled or counted.

The law requires state election officials to inform the California Secretary of State or Attorney General if they get served a court order for the search or seizure of voting machines, ballots and other election materials. Spokespeople from neither office immediately responded to a Bee request for comment Friday.

On Thursday, California Secretary of State Shirley Weber defended the state in the face of the president’s latest claims, although she did not mention Trump.

“Accuracy comes before speed,” 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.”