Federal probe targets California voter rolls as ballots still counted

As California continues to count ballots days after the primary election, one of California's top federal attorneys announced that his office will conduct multiple investigations into potential election fraud in Los Angeles on June 5.

Bill Essayli, the First Assistant U.S. Attorney of the state's Central District, said in a post on X, that he would be working with Los Angeles' Federal Bureau of Investigation to "conduct a comprehensive audit of California’s voter rolls."

Notably, Essayli pointed to the plea deal Brenda Lee Brown Armstrong made with the federal government in May, admitting that she had paid homeless people in Los Angeles to register to vote in Federal elections, as proof of fraud in California elections.

"California’s election system has serious structural vulnerabilities. Universal vote-by-mail with no voter ID requirements creates conditions where fraud can go undetected and unpunished, eroding public confidence," he said on X.

This decision comes a day after President Donald Trump claimed without evidence that Democrats are trying to “steal” two of California’s top races — the primary election for governor and Los Angeles’ mayoral 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,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on Wednesday, June 3. “Here we go with the very late and massive numbers of MAIL IN BALLOTS.”

For years, the federal government has criticized slow election counting process, which allows counties weeks to complete the official canvass, meaning results in the governor’s race — and several other high-profile contests — could continue to shift.

This year's primary election has been unsettling, with new vote counts narrowing the gap between Steve Hilton and Xavier Becerra while Democrat Tom Steyer remains within striking distance — all as federal prosecutors aligned with President Donald Trump say they’ve opened multiple election fraud investigations, escalating tensions over a slow and still-shifting ballot count.

With roughly half of expected votes counted, Hilton holds a narrow lead over Becerra, about 27.2% to 26%, while Steyer trails in third at around 20.2%, according to updated returns as of 11:42 a.m. on June 5.

The tight spread between Hilton and Becerra has drawn increased attention as counties continue to tally millions of outstanding ballots, many of them postmarked on Election Day and arriving in the days after. 

That dynamic has historically shifted results in California, where the bulk of voters rely on mailed ballots, meaning early returns often differ from final certified totals.

Gov. Gavin Newsom's press office has attempted to address the claims by the president, noting on a post on X that, "there is a lot of misinformation floating around about California’s election — including from the President."

Regardless, many people remain skeptical of California's voting process, like Harmeet K. Dhillon, the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.

"Ask yourselves — why does California (& many other states) hide their voter rolls from the federal government at the same time they gladly hand them over to liberal activist groups," Dhillon posted on X.