Barrow asks the DOJ to investigate if allegations of electoral fraud exist


WASHINGTON (AP) – Attorney General William Barrow has empowered federal lawyers in the U.S. to make “significant allegations” of voting irregularities if they are present, before the 2020 presidential election is certified, despite little evidence of fraud.

Burr’s action defeated President Donald Trump by Democrat B Biden, and it is likely that Trump will use the Department of Justice to challenge the outcome. It gives prosecutors the ability to revolve around the Department of Justice’s long-running policy that generally prohibits such explicit action before an election is certified.

Trump has not accepted the election and is instead claiming without evidence that there is a widespread, multi-state conspiracy by Democrats to sway the vote in favor of Biden.

Biden has a large lead in several war-torn states and there have been no indications of an improperly counted or illegal vote that would shift the outcome. In fact, election officials from both the political parties said in public that the election went well, however, there were minor issues that were common in the election, including breaking voting machines and incorrectly lost ballot papers.

U.S. obtained by the Associated Press. In the lawyers’ memo, Bair wrote, “If there are clear and unequivocally-credible allegations of irregularities, they may be investigated if they are true, which could potentially affect the outcome of the individual state’s federal election.” ”

He said any election that does not explicitly affect the outcome of the federal election should be delayed until after the election has been certified and the so-called preliminary inquiry by government prosecutors should be opened, which will allow investigators and lawyers to see if there is evidence. . Allow them to take further investigative steps.

Twelve memos do not identify any specific instances of alleged fraud.

“Credible allegations need to be made in a timely and effective manner, just as the department’s staff must exercise due diligence and maintain the department’s full commitment to fairness, neutrality and non-partisanship,” Barr wrote.

States have until December 8 to settle election disputes, including calculations on results and court contests. Members of the Electoral College meet on December 14 to finalize the result.

Burr, a loyal ally of President Donald Trump, helped spread Trump’s allegations of voter fraud ahead of the election, despite multiple studies of the notion of widespread voter fraud in the general election and the potential for undue influence and coercion on mail-in voting. By mail processing.

In general, the Department of Justice’s policy is “not to conduct clear investigations, including interviews with individual voters, until the results of fraud-affected elections are certified.”

But Barrow argues in the memo that there are concerns that such acts may inadvertently affect the election after the polls have been completed and, in some cases, that the investigation cannot be delayed until the election is certified.

The bar was not asked by Trump, anyone else in the White House, or any legislator to present the memo, a Justice Department official said. Officials could not discuss the issue in public and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

Burr was in the Senate on Capitol Hill on Monday afternoon with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and refused to answer reporters’ questions when he left. Earlier Monday, McConnell threw his support behind Trump after a period of post-election silence.

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