US Presidential election: Attorney General orders investigation of Trump’s claims of votes fraud

The Attorney General of the United States of America (US), William Barr, has ordered the federal prosecutors to open investigations into claims of voting irregularities by President Donald Trump, who lost the November 3 presidential election.

Barr, a renowned defender of Trump, directed US attorneys across the country to commence investigation of the process. He, however, noted that the directive was not an indication that the Justice Department has evidence yet of genuine cases of fraud in the election won by Joe Biden, candidate of the Democratic Party.

The Attorney General empowered the prosecutors beyond former restrictions on such investigations, as Republicans raised claims of illegal voting and vote-counting in several states, though, without substantial evidence.

“Given that voting in our current elections has now concluded, I authorize you to pursue substantial allegations of voting and vote tabulation irregularities prior to the certification of elections in your jurisdictions in certain cases.

“Such inquiries and reviews may be conducted if there are clear and apparently-credible allegations of irregularities that, if true, could potentially impact the outcome of a federal election in an individual state,” William Barr declared in the authorization  letter to the attorneys general.

It was observed that investigations of voting fraud are usually within the jurisdiction of individual states, which establish and police their own election rules.

It was added that Justice Department policy has been to hold back any federal involvement until vote tallies are certified, recounts completed, and races concluded.

Barr was said to ordered the attorneys that the “practice has never been a hard and fast rule,”, insisting that, if they see anything that could reverse the results of last Tuesday’s election, they should pursue it.

“While serious allegations should be handled with great care, specious, speculative, fanciful or far-fetched claims should not be a basis for initiating federal inquiries,” Barr stated in his memo.

The branch director, Richard Pilger, was said to have tendered his resignation within hours of Barr’s authorization.

In an email to colleagues about Barr’s order, Pilger said, “Having familiarized myself with the new policy and its ramifications… I must regretfully resign from my role,” The New York Times reported.

Barr’s order came as Trump battles to reverse Biden’s narrow wins in several key states — Pennsylvania, Nevada, Georgia and Arizona — that gave Barack Obama’s former vice president enough electoral votes to win the overall presidential election.

The Trump campaign and the Republican party have filed or threatened lawsuits in several of the states, hoping to change the outcome with ballot disqualifications and recounts.

But so far, their actions have gone nowhere, and state officials have challenged them to provide proof of allegations.