Head Of DOJ’s Election Crimes Unit Steps Down After Barr OKs Election Inquiries

Enlarge this image


U.S. Attorney General William Barr meets with members of the St. Louis Police Department on Oct. 15. On Monday night, Richard Pilger resigned as director of the Justice Department’s election crimes branch, protesting Barr’s memo authorizing federal prosecutors to pursue allegations of voting irregularities.





Jeff Roberson/Pool/Getty Images



hide caption



toggle caption


Jeff Roberson/Pool/Getty Images




Barr qualified his stance by requiring any inquiries or reviews to be based on «clear and apparently-credible allegations of irregularities that could — if proven true — affect the outcome of a federal election in an individual state. The attorney general also said his memo should not be taken to suggest the DOJ has «concluded that voting irregularities have impacted the outcome of any election.

Despite those caveats, Barr’s policy is regarded as contributing to President Trump’s «disinformation campaign about voting, as NPR reported Monday night. And former Justice Department officials were quick to criticize the memo as overtly partisan.