2026-06-10T20:25:59.533Z / 美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）
当唐纳德·特朗普总统就洛杉矶选举中的民主党投票舞弊提出指控时，他在该市任命的最高检察官公开露面，为这些说法背书，同时暗示其办公室可能永远无法证实这种大型阴谋论。
据一位知情人士透露，尽管特朗普上周在社交媒体上称相关调查正在进行中，但司法部尚未就该市上周选举的组织方式启动任何新的刑事案件。
该机构的领导层一直急于宣传起诉选举欺诈的可能性。在当前的媒体报道中处于核心位置的是美国第一助理检察官比尔·埃塞利，这位特朗普任命的官员领导着洛杉矶美国检察官办公室。
“我们正在开展工作，在当前情况下我们已尽最大努力，我预计会有人被起诉，”埃塞利本周在《格伦·贝克节目》中表示，当时他被问及司法部是否发现了足以改变选举结果的大规模欺诈行为。
“我们正在追查任何形式的大规模阴谋，”埃塞利说道，同时宣传该部门的举报热线。“就目前而言，我想说，我们的调查更多指向单个行为人。”
埃塞利近日承诺，在加州提起诉讼只是时间问题，但同时也暗示其办公室需要举报人挺身而出。他承认，司法部尚未发现会影响选举结果的那种欺诈行为，但他将此归咎于加州的选举制度，称该制度使得此类证据几乎无法找到。
这种套路并不陌生——对于曾因试图推翻2020年选举结果而面临刑事指控的特朗普来说如此，对于那些在政府中的地位取决于取悦总统的司法部领导层来说亦是如此。他们抓住了人们长期以来对加州官员公布选举结果耗时过长的不满。
但司法部官员并未提供共和党人被窃取选举的大规模阴谋的证据，反而大肆宣扬他们已起诉的个别案件，这些案件涉及非法选民登记或极少数非公民投票，同时指责民主党妨碍其调查。
特朗普今年春天罢免前司法部长帕姆·邦迪一事仍在司法部内部引发余波，因为有明确迹象表明，官员们为上司办事的能力是决定其被解雇还是晋升的关键。在特朗普对选举欺诈的执念——以及他对政治对手进行报复的愿望——方面，联邦官员陷入了既要满足特朗普的要求，又要兼顾实际可行措施的两难境地。
与此同时，选举问题资深人士告诉CNN，司法部官员附和特朗普的说法却未提供任何能动摇选举结果的刑事不当行为证据，这可能会削弱公众对投票的信心。
“这营造了一种环境，正在摧毁数十年来地方郡县官员和市政官员建立起来的信任根基，”尼尔·凯尔利说道。这位共和党人在2022年退休前，曾担任加州奥兰治县选举负责人近20年。
埃塞利的办公室拒绝就本篇报道置评。
“司法部拥有法定权力执行我国的选举法律，包括在联邦公职候选人参选时请求获取州选民名单并监督计票，”司法部发言人在给CNN的一份声明中表示。“司法部对加州选举欺诈的调查符合这一职权范围，将继续推进，尽管该州不愿配合并向选民保证他们的选举确实自由、公平且透明。保护选举诚信是特朗普政府的首要任务。”
在媒体露面中，司法部官员在宣传他们为调查选举欺诈所做工作的同时，也试图控制公众预期——他们实际上能否在民主党选区提起指控大规模选民欺诈的案件。
“这个制度并非旨在保护或防范欺诈。这个制度糟透了，”埃塞利周四在CNN节目中表示，此前特朗普刚发帖暗示其办公室正在调查洛杉矶的投票情况。
尽管如此，几天后，埃塞利在格伦·贝克的播客中表示，一旦初选结果得到认证，将在1至2个月内提起诉讼。
洛杉矶和加州的选举官员为他们的计票工作进行了辩护，郡县官员上周也同意了司法部的请求，允许其在洛杉矶计票现场监督选票处理过程。
“关键在于选举官员欢迎透明化，”大卫·贝克尔说道，他曾是司法部投票部门律师，现为选举创新与研究中心负责人，为选举官员提供咨询。“和往常一样，选举官员正在公开他们的工作流程。而那些毫无证据就声称存在欺诈的联邦官员，再次掩盖了事实真相。”
司法部此前一直面临特朗普的要求，即司法部应就2020年总统选举提起诉讼，特朗普至今仍 falsely 声称自己在该选举中被窃取了胜利。司法部此前采取大规模行动，获取佐治亚州2020年的选票以及亚利桑那州当年的审计材料，这让选举官员感到不安，但政府尚未拿出任何证据证明欺诈是特朗普败选的原因。
今年早些时候，代理司法部长托德·布兰奇在接受福克斯新闻采访时称有“大量证据表明选举被操纵”，同时声称参与欺诈的人“非常擅长掩盖不当行为和所作所为”。
政府实际拿出的是几起与外国人非法投票或登记相关的起诉案件，他们投入了大量资源追查选民名单上的非公民。
在埃塞利和该部门其他官员多次提及的另一起案件中，检察官指控加州一名女子非法付钱给一些人——其中包括洛杉矶贫民区的无家可归者——让他们登记投票，以此作为她在请愿活动中最大化获取报酬计划的一部分。该女子对其中一项指控表示认罪，指控内容包括她“多次”让无家可归者使用她之前的住址填写登记表格。据一位知情人士透露，检察官还在调查她是否与任何可能也被指控共谋的组织有勾结。
尽管如此，司法部并未在法庭程序中提供证据证明这些非法登记导致了欺诈性投票。但埃塞利等人仍利用这起案件批评加州的全民邮寄投票制度——即每位登记选民都会收到邮寄选票，同时批评该州没有照片选民身份证要求，以及该州允许外部团体收集和提交邮寄选票的规定。
加州选举官员如今受到的诸多批评集中在计票速度上。但选举官员核实邮寄选票真实性所需的流程，正是加州选举结果公布耗时较长的部分原因。
“他们抱怨计票速度慢，但选举官员现在正在做的是核对选民身份、确认选票完整性，确保不存在欺诈，”贝克尔说道。
凯尔利表示，选举结果最终出炉耗时过长是州议会的过错，因为加州的选举规则允许选民在最后一刻提交选票，给选举官员的计票认证过程造成了瓶颈。
“你给了他们等待的机会，他们就会利用这个机会，”凯尔利说道。
曼哈顿联邦首席检察官、美国检察官杰伊·克莱顿本周在CNBC节目中被问及，使加州计票过程缓慢的州法律与实际存在的欺诈证据之间的区别。
“有一句名言说得好，‘存在欺诈的机会’，”克莱顿说道。
司法部官员还利用加州这场风波，抨击选举官员拒绝其获取该州未编辑选民名单的要求。这场法律斗争目前不仅在加州，还在其他七个州以政府失败告终。
美国第九巡回上诉法院目前正在审查一名联邦法官的裁决，该裁决称司法部无权强迫加州交出其保密的选民登记文件。司法部总共对拒绝配合选民登记数据请求的民主党和共和党选举办公室提起了31起诉讼，这些请求要求获取选民的通常保密信息，如社会保险号或驾照号码。特朗普政府在这些案件中未获得任何有利裁决，其中八起的地区法院已驳回诉讼。多家上诉法院目前正在审理相关事宜。
负责民权事务的司法部助理部长哈米特·迪伦领导着选民数据收集工作，因为她的部门包含司法部投票部门。她已誓言将这一问题提交至最高法院。
埃塞利在一篇社交媒体帖子中强调了迪伦为获取加州选民名单所做的工作，该帖子列出了司法部在加州开展的与选举相关的工作。
“团队合作/梦想工作，”迪伦在X平台上对该帖子回应道。
CNN的阿比盖尔·勒德海默对本篇报道亦有贡献。
Justice Department officials dance around Trump’s unsupported claims of California election fraud
2026-06-10T20:25:59.533Z / CNN
When President Donald Trump made claims of Democratic vote-rigging in the Los Angeles election, his top appointed prosecutor in the city took to the cameras to validate those beliefs while hinting his office may never be able prove that kind of grand conspiracy.
The Justice Department has launched no new criminal cases connected to how the city administered last week’s contest, according to a source familiar with the matter, even as the president said on social media last week that such an investigation was underway.
The agency’s leaders have been quick to tout the potential for fraud prosecutions. Front and center in the current media cycle is First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli, the Trump appointee leading the Los Angeles US Attorney’s Office.
“We’re doing the work, we are doing the best we can in the circumstances, I expect people will be charged,” Essayli said this week on “The Glenn Beck Program,” where he was asked whether the department had seen a scale of fraud that would have changed the results.
“We are looking for any sort of wide-scale conspiracies,” Essayli said, while promoting the department’s tip line. “Right now, I would say, our investigations lean into more individual actors.”
Essayli in recent days has promised prosecutions in California were only a matter of time — while also suggesting his office needed whistleblowers to come forward. He’s acknowledged that the department hasn’t found the kind of fraud that would impact electoral outcomes, but he’s blamed California for a system that, he says, makes such evidence nearly impossible to find.
The playbook is a familiar one — both for Trump, who faced criminal charges for his schemes to overturn the 2020 election, and now for the Justice Department leaders whose standing in the administration depends on keeping the president happy. They have seized on long-standing gripes about how long it takes California officials to report election results.
But without providing evidence of a sweeping plot to steal elections from Republicans, DOJ officials are instead hyping singular cases they have prosecuted dealing with illegal voter registration or single-digit noncitizen voting, while accusing Democrats of getting in the way of their investigations.
The dust has yet to settle at the department from Trump’s ouster of former Attorney General Pam Bondi in the spring, as it has been made clear that officials’ ability to deliver for the boss is the difference between a firing and a promotion. On Trump’s election fraud fixations — as well as his desire for revenge against his political foes — federal officials are left tap-dancing around what he wants and what can practically be achieved.
In the meantime, their willingness to feed into Trump’s claims — without offering any proof of criminal wrongdoing that would sway elections — could undermine public confidence in the vote, election veterans told CNN.
“This has just created this environment where you’re tearing away the very fabric of the trust that has built up for decades for local county officials and city officials,” said Neal Kelley, a Republican who ran elections in Orange County, California, for nearly two decades before his 2022 retirement.
Essayli’s office declined to comment for this story.
“The Department of Justice has statutory authority to enforce our nation’s election laws, including through requesting state voter rolls and monitoring returns when candidates for federal office are on the ballot,” a Justice Department spokesperson told CNN in a statement. “The Department’s investigations into voter fraud in California are in line with this authority and will continue despite the state’s unwillingness to comply and reassure voters that their elections are in fact free, fair, and transparent. Protecting election integrity is a top priority for the Trump Administration.”
In their media appearances, Justice Department leaders have walked the line between promoting the work they’re doing to find election fraud, while attempting to manage expectations that they will actually be able to deliver a case that alleges widespread voter fraud in a Democratic district.
“The system is not designed to protect or prevent fraud. The system sucks,” Essayli said Thursday on CNN, in an appearance just after the Trump post suggesting his office was probing Los Angeles’ vote.
Nonetheless, a few days later, Essayli expressed confidence on Glenn Beck’s podcast that charges would come in 1 to 2 months, once the primary was certified.
Election officials in Los Angeles and California have defended their handling of the vote, and county officials granted a DOJ request last week to observe the ballot processing at the L.A. counting site.
“The key here is that election officials are welcoming the transparency,” said David Becker, a former DOJ voting section attorney who now advises election officials as head of the Center for Election Innovation & Research. “As usual, the election officials are showing their work. The federal officials — who, without evidence, are claiming fraud — are once again hiding the ball.”
The Justice Department has already been grappling with vows by Trump that DOJ would bring prosecutions for the 2020 presidential election, which Trump still falsely claims was stolen from him. Sweeping moves by the Justice Department to obtain 2020 ballots in Georgia and audit materials from Arizona’s election that year have unnerved election officials, but the administration has yet to show it’s found any evidence that would prove fraud was to blame for Trump’s loss.
Earlier this year, as he told Fox News that there was “a ton of evidence that the election was rigged,” acting Attorney General Todd Blanche claimed that those engaging in the fraud were “very good at hiding up misconduct and hiding what they’re doing.”
A handful of prosecutions related to illegal voting or registration by foreigners are what the administration has produced instead, having poured significant resources into finding noncitizens on voter rolls.
In another case, which Essayli and others at the department repeatedly cited, prosecutors charged a California woman with illegally paying people — some of them on Los Angeles’ Skid Row — to register to vote as part of a scheme to maximize compensation she was receiving in petition drives. The woman pleaded guilty to one count in the case, which included the allegation that on “several occasions” she had homeless people use her own former address on the registration forms. Prosecutors are also looking at whether she worked with any organizations that could also be charged with a conspiracy, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Still, the DOJ has not put forward evidence in the court proceedings that the illegal registrations resulted in fraudulent votes. Essayli and others have nonetheless used the case to criticize California’s universal mail voting system, under which every registered voter receives a mail ballot, while criticizing its lack of a photo voter ID requirement and how the state allows outside groups to collect and submit mail ballots.
Much of the flak California election officials are getting now is focused on the pace of the ballots count. But the process that election officials must go through to verify that mail ballots are authentic is partly why California’s results take time to report.
“They’re complaining about the speed of counting when what the election officials are doing right now is checking voter ID, confirming integrity, making sure there’s no fraud,” Becker said.
The time it takes for the results to be finalized is the fault of the state legislature, Kelley said, because of the election rules that allowed Californians turn in their ballots at the last minute, creating a bottleneck in the canvassing process for election officials.
“You’ve given them the opportunity to wait, they’re going to take it,” Kelley said.
Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor, US Attorney Jay Clayton, was grilled on CNBC this week on the distinction between state laws that make California’s vote tabulation a slow process and actual evidence of fraud.
“There’s a great phrase, ‘opportunity for fraud,’” Clayton said.
Justice Department officials have also used the California spotlight to rail against election officials for resisting its demands for the state’s unredacted voter rolls, in a legal battle that the administration so far has lost not just in Golden State, but also in seven others.
The US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is currently examining a federal judge’s ruling that the DOJ could not force California to turn over its confidential voter registration files. The administration has brought 31 lawsuits in total against both Democratic and Republican election offices that have declined to comply with the voter registration data requests, which sought normally confidential information about voters, such as their Social Security numbers or driver’s license numbers. The Trump administration has not won a favorable ruling in any of those cases, and district courts in eight of them have thrown out the lawsuits. Several appeals courts are now weighing the matter.
The DOJ’s assistant attorney general for civil rights, Harmeet Dhillon, is leading the voter data collection effort, as her division includes the department’s voting section. She has vowed to take the issue to the Supreme Court.
Essayli highlighted the work Dhillon was doing to obtain California’s rolls in a social media post laying out the election-related work the department was doing in California.
“Teamwork/dreamwork,” Dhillon said in her own response to the post on X.
CNN’s Abigail Roedersheimer has contributed to this report.