President Donald Trump will press legal challenges on last week’s election results on Tuesday after US Attorney General William Barr called on federal prosecutors to investigate all “material” allegations of electoral irregularity.
Mr Barr’s briefing with the prosecution prompted the chief attorney who oversaw the election fraud investigation to resign in protest.
It came after days of election integrity assaults by Trump and Republican allies who have alleged widespread election fraud with no evidence to show.
Mr Trump did not allow the election to Democrat Joe Biden, who on Saturday received more than the 270 electoral college votes required to win the presidency.
The Trump campaign has filed several lawsuits alleging that election results were flawed. Judges have dismissed lawsuits in Michigan and Georgia, and experts say Mr Trump’s legal efforts stand little chance of changing the election result.
Mr Barr told prosecutors Monday that “fanciful or far-fetched allegations” should not be used as a basis for an investigation and his letter did not indicate that the Justice Department had uncovered voting irregularities affecting the election result.
However, he said he empowers prosecutors to pursue “significant allegations” of irregularities in voting and ballot counting.
Richard Pilger, who has served as the director of the electoral crimes division for years, announced in an internal email that he is stepping down after reading “the new policy and its implications”.
Mr Biden’s campaign said Mr Barr fueled Trump’s far-fetched fraud allegations.
“These are the very claims the president and his lawyers make unsuccessful every day as their claims are laughed at by one court after another,” said Bob Bauer, a senior adviser to Mr. Biden.
Earlier Monday, Mr Trump’s campaign had filed a lawsuit to prevent Pennsylvania officials from confirming Mr Biden’s victory in the battlefield state.
It was alleged that the state’s mail-in voting system was in violation of the US Constitution by creating an “illegal two-tier voting system” in which voting in person was more controlled than postal voting.
It was filed against the Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar and the electoral boards in democratic counties such as Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Boockvar’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Source : Al Khaleej Today
