Green light. The US Minister of Justice Bill Barr on Monday authorized the opening of investigations into possible irregularities during the presidential election of November 3, which Donald Trump assures us that it was tainted with “fraud”, without providing any evidence .
Bill Barr, one of the ministers most loyal to the outgoing president, stressed that this authorization, addressed to federal prosecutors across the country, did not indicate that the Department of Justice had evidence of the existence of genuine fraud situations. . “I authorize you to investigate substantial allegations of irregularities in voting or ballot counting prior to certification of elections in your jurisdictions in certain cases,” he wrote in his letter.
“Such investigations can be carried out if there are clear and potentially credible allegations of irregularities which, if proven, could potentially have an impact on the outcome of a federal election in a state,” he adds. .
No evidence and little hope
Following Bill Barr’s order, the head of the electoral crimes department, which oversees fraud investigations, announced his resignation, according to several national media. Richard Pilger explained his decision in an email sent to his team, explaining “after studying the new rules and their ramifications, [devoir] unfortunately resign from my post ”, according to the New York Times.
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Investigations into electoral fraud are normally the responsibility of each state, which establishes and monitors its own electoral rules. And the US Department of Justice usually does not intervene in such a situation until the vote counts are certified and the recounts are complete.
Donald Trump’s campaign team is waging legal battles in several states won on the wire by Joe Biden – Pennsylvania and Nevada in the lead – in an attempt to challenge their results. These efforts are notably led by the sons of the outgoing president, who relay allegations of electoral fraud and irregularities, without supporting evidence.
“If serious allegations must be treated with great care, speculative, fanciful or far-fetched claims should not be used as a basis for the opening of federal investigations”, warned the Minister of Justice.
Still, the Donald Trump camp is unlikely to succeed, with many local officials challenging the campaign to provide evidence of the fraud allegations.
Original article by : www.leparisien.fr
