DOJ official resigns after Barr reacts to election fraud allegations

Department of Justice (DOJ) official resigned his role overseeing polling crime investigations hours after the attorney general William barrBill BarrBarr Allows Justice to Investigate Any ‘Substantial Allegation’ of Voter Fraud Emails Show Park Police Relying On Pepperballs, Outside Police Force During Lafayette Protests The Republican Party of Nevada Sends Criminal Referral to DOJ Alleging Thousands of Voter Fraud Cases MORE announced on Monday that he had authorized the agency to investigate any “substantial allegation” of voter fraud in the 2020 election.

In an email first obtained by The New York Times, Richard Pilger wrote to his colleagues, “Having learned about the new policy and its ramifications… I regret to resign from my post as Director of the Electoral Crimes Directorate.

Pilger added in email that the new DOJ policy “repeals the 40-year-old non-interference policy for the investigation of electoral fraud in the period leading up to certification and non-contesting of elections.”

According to the Times, Pilger, who had served as director of the DOJ’s Electoral Crimes Division since 2010, added that he would “move to an unsupervising role working on corruption prosecutions.”

The Hill has reached out to the DOJ for comment.

Pilger’s resignation came after Barr wrote in a note Monday that DOJ investigations “can be conducted if there are clear and seemingly credible allegations of irregularities which, if true, could impact the outcome of a federal election in a given state.”

“Nothing here should be taken as an indication that the Department has concluded that voting irregularities impacted the outcome of any election,” Barr added. “Such investigations and reviews can be carried out if there are clear and seemingly credible allegations of irregularities which, if true, could potentially impact the outcome of a federal election in an individual state.”

President elect Joe bidenJoe BidenPence will attend the GOP Senate luncheon on Tuesday Biden’s transition team will consider legal action over the agency’s transition delays: reports that Manchin is reducing the possibility of Senate Democrats waiving filibuster, expand court MORE Saturday was projected by all the mainstream media as the winner of the presidential election, but President TrumpDonald John TrumpPence to attend GOP Senate lunch on Tuesday Biden’s transition team to consider legal action over agency transition delays: reports Trump campaign lawyers worried about pushing lawsuits that could undermine the elections said he would not concede, alleging without evidence that there were several cases of electoral fraud in a Democratic attempt to steal the election.

The Trump campaign has filed lawsuits in several key battlefield states Biden won, asking local judges to invalidate or stop counting mail-in ballots.