Exclusive | FBI smash huge voter fraud ring in California days after feds issued ultimatum to state
Federal agents collared suspects in a slew of voter fraud cases Monday morning, chasing targets across California drawn from a list of more than 20,000 suspected noncitizens in the state who allegedly registered to vote in next month’s midterm election.Law enforcement authorities sought more than two dozen foreign nationals charged with fraudulently registering to vote in US elections, in which most of them allegedly cast illegal ballots, under the effort dubbed “Operation Protect the Vote.”Homeland Security Investigations swooped on the Commerce home of Alexander Muñoz around 6 a.m.in one of the arrests.The agents pounded on the front door, calling for Muñoz to come out.
He emerged and was taken into custody.Authorities say Muñoz, 72, a Belizean national, fraudulently registered to vote in September 2019, claiming his was a U.S.
citizen.He then voted in U.S.
elections in 2020, twice in 2022, and in 2024.Muñoz also lied on his application to become a naturalized US citizen, when he falsely stated under oath to have never claimed to be a citizen, investigators say.He faces felony charges, including making false statements in a naturalization application.LA’s top federal prosecutor, Bill Essayli, said the charges brought against Muñoz and other suspects sought Monday buttress the federal government’s claims of widespread voter fraud in California.“Today’s arrests confirm what we suspected and what we put California on notice for: Noncitizens are voting in California elections which is unconstitutional and illegal,” he said.In addition to Muñoz, federal agents sought more than two dozen addition individuals accused of similar crimes.It was unclear immediately how many had been apprehended.
Prosecutors planned a press conference for later Monday morning to provide details.The arrests of alleged noncitizen voters were the latest escalation in a federal effort to tackle electoral wrongdoing in California, something local officials have denied is ...