US Department of Justice’s top election crimes prosecutor quits after Attorney General Barr orders federal attorneys to probe allegations of voter fraud

The US Department Of Justice’s top election crimes prosecutor has quit his job in protest after US Attorney General Bill Barr directed federal attorneys to probe allegations of voter fraud leveled by Trump and the Republican party in the just concluded presidential elections .

Joe Biden beat Trump by getting over 270 electoral votes in the just concluded elections but Trump has refused to concede alleging voter fraud and irregularities.

While some world leaders have moved to congratulate Biden, other world leaders like Vladmir Putin , Turkey’s Erdogan, Brazil’s Bolsanaro, and Chinese leader Xi Jinping say they won’t congratulate Biden until the election results are certified as Trump battles the results in court.

Attorney General William Barr ordered federal prosecutors on Monday  November 9, to examine allegations of voting irregularities before states move to certify results of the election in the coming weeks.

Barr’s memo also ordered prosecutors they could take investigative steps such as interviewing witnesses during a period that they would normally need permission from the elections crimes section.

Richard Pilger, director of the elections crimes branch in the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section, told colleagues in a resignation email that the attorney general was issuing “an important new policy abrogating the forty-year-old Non-Interference Policy for ballot fraud investigations in the period prior to elections becoming certified and uncontested.” 

Pilger also forwarded the memo to colleagues but didn’t indicate whether he plans to stay in the department in another capacity.

In his memo, Barr said that while “most allegations of purported election misconduct are of such a scale that they would not impact the outcome of an election and, thus, investigation can appropriately be deferred, that is not always the case.”

“Furthermore, any concerns that overt actions taken by the Department could inadvertently impact an election are greatly minimized, if they exist at all, once voting has concluded, even if election certification has not yet been completed,” he wrote.

The attorney general has previously supported Trump’s claims about voter fraud, and this latest move could inflame an already tense transition process.