Nevada’s top federal prosecutor has asked the FBI to investigate debunked Republican claims about voter fraud in the 2020 election, a probe she hopes will influence congressional races and ensnare Democrats, according to a government document seen by Reuters.
In late July, U.S. Attorney Sigal Chattah told Justice Department officials she met with federal agents and handed them a thumb drive containing data compiled by Nevada’s Republican Party about people living in the U.S. illegally who cast ballots in the 2020 election and members of Indian tribes who allegedly received cash for ballots, the document shows. She also urged the agents to call the state’s Republican Party attorney.
Chattah said she expects to pursue a variety of investigative lines of inquiry, but legal experts said she has multiple conflicts of interest and should recuse herself from any investigations involving certain legal clients or political matters she was involved with directly. Justice Department guidelines also stipulate that prosecutors cannot initiate a case based on “political association, activities, or beliefs.”
Chattah told senior officials she wants to remove “illegal aliens” from voter rolls which would possibly lead to a “reallocation of census numbers” and affect the race for Nevada’s 4th congressional district seat, currently held by Democratic U.S. Representative Steven Horsford, the document shows.
Chattah said she also wants to exonerate the six Republicans who were prosecuted by Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford for posing as fake electors in a failed bid to keep President Donald Trump in power after he lost the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden.
Chattah defended one of the accused and a lower court dismissed the charges. The state appealed the case, which is still pending.