A top DOJ official has allegedly given federal prosecutors an ultimatum: pursue election fraud cases brought forward, or get the boot.
Aakash Singh, the deputy attorney general’s top lieutenant, said in a call that prosecutors risk being fired if they do not pursue possible election fraud cases brought to them by federal law enforcement, sources familiar with his remarks told MS NOW.
That report has set off alarm bells among legal experts, who warn that such a policy is dangerous for the public, removing a critical layer of oversight—that of the prosecutor—from determining whether there is substantial evidence to charge someone with a crime.
“If true, this is outrageous,” Ryan Crosswell, a former DOJ prosecutor who worked in an office that oversaw election crime prosecutions before the Trump administration dismantled it, told MS NOW. “It is the prosecutor—the expert on the criminal law and the expert on whether the facts satisfy the elements of the crime—that has to make this decision.”
DOJ spokeswoman Emily Covington denied that Singh threatened to fire prosecutors, telling MS NOW: “He never said anyone would be fired. The Department has been very clear that election integrity is a priority. This is not a partisan issue. Only those who are allowed to vote should be voting in our elections. If you break the law, you will be charged accordingly.”
Despite claims by Trump and others in MAGA, there is no evidence of widespread election fraud by undocumented immigrants. A ProPublica analysis found that, between January 2025 and May 2026, just 41 alleged noncitizens were charged with voting illegally—a fraction of the more than 150 million people who voted in the 2024 presidential election.
The DOJ did not respond to an email from the Daily Beast seeking comment.
MS NOW reports that Singh told supervisors that higher-ups could overturn a prosecutor’s decision not to pursue a case. One insider told the network that the office of the deputy attorney general will make the final decision on whether a case goes forward.
Department of Justice staffers were reportedly left “shocked” by the alleged edict, which MS NOW reported came during a standing weekly conference call with senior supervisors overseeing criminal prosecutions in U.S. attorneys’ offices.
Attorney General Todd Blanche promoted Singh, 34, to be the principal associate deputy attorney general—a position viewed as the No. 3 job in the department—this month. He is a former line prosecutor in the Eastern District of North Carolina who has shot up the ranks during Trump’s second term.
Crosswell, who resigned last year when a Trump appointee ordered his office to drop a corruption investigation into then-New York Mayor Eric Adams, says he fears everyday people will be victims of Singh’s alleged order, which he called “chilling.”
“One of the most important parts of the prosecutor’s oath is to ensure that they shut down investigations if the evidence isn’t there,” Crosswell told MS NOW. “This is a protection of everyday citizens.”
