Top prosecutor: ‘Multiple election fraud investigations underway’ in Calif.
OAN Staff Sophia Flores
4:52 PM – Friday, June 5, 2026
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli announced on X that federal authorities are investigating alleged voter fraud in California and will conduct a “comprehensive audit” of the state’s voter rolls. The effort will be carried out by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in coordination with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
On Friday, Essayli, who heads operations for the Los Angeles-based federal prosecutor’s office, highlighted a May voter fraud plea agreement to showcase ongoing enforcement. Essayli explicitly confirmed that his office, in coordination with FBI Los Angeles, has “multiple election fraud investigations underway” across the Golden State following Tuesday’s primary election.
Mike Sanchez, a spokesperson for the county registrar-recorder revealed that the agency was notified on Thursday evening “that the U.S. Attorney’s Office would send an Assistant U.S. Attorney to the Ballot Processing Center to observe ballot processing activities.”
“The individual arrived this morning, was provided an overview of the public observation program, and participated in a walkthrough of the ballot processing operations,” he continued while noting that the process of counting ballots is open to public observation.
California Secretary of State Shirley Weber revealed that as of Thursday evening, county election officials have processed 5.6 million ballots, while an estimated 3.6 million additional ballots remain to be tallied.
The slow vote count has drawn sharp criticism from Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton (R-Calif.), who released a statement calling the delay a “shambles” that is “absolutely shameful for our state.”
Hilton then went on to target outgoing Governor Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.), demanding that the administration should deploy state resources to accelerate the counting process and guarantee verified results by next Thursday.
The governor’s office quickly dismissed the demand, labelling it a political stunt.
“It’s concerning that a candidate for Governor doesn’t know the Governor has nothing to do with counting ballots,” Newsom’s deputy director for rapid response Brandon Richards stated, noting that county officials independently manage the canvas.
According to the Associated Press, with 64% of the total votes counted as of Friday evening, Hilton holds a narrow lead with 26.6% of the vote. Xavier Becerra trails closely behind at 26.5%, while Tom Steyer is in third place with 20.8%.
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