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.
Under the effort dubbed “Operation Protect the Vote,” law enforcement authorities sought more than two-dozen noncitizens charged with fraudulently registering to vote in US elections, in which most of them allegedly cast illegal ballots. Authorities called it the biggest such takedown in the state’s history.
The California Post was there as Homeland Security Investigations swooped on the City of Commerce home of Alexander Muñoz around 6 a.m.
The agents pounded on the front door, calling for Muñoz to come out. He emerged and was taken into custody. A family member ridiculed the armed uniformed agents who led Muñoz away. “You all need to get a job,” he said.
Authorities say Muñoz, 72, a Belizean national, fraudulently registered to vote in September 2019, claiming he was a US citizen, according to prosecutors. He then voted in US 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.
Muñoz has previous convictions in the US for grand theft and nacrcotics posession.
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.
Essayli said the state merely requires wannabe voters to attest to US citizenship and does not ask for documentation, leaving ballot rolls open to fraud. State election officials’ claims of checking for citizenship are false, he said.
“There’s a lot of misinformation and disinformation being spread by the deceivers up there in Sacramento,” said Essayli. “The governor and the Secretary of State, and the Attorney General. They’re lying.”
In addition to Muñoz, federal agents sought more than two-dozen addition individuals accused of similar crimes. --->READ MORE HERE
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| 60 Minutes/X |
CBS News’ Leslie Stahl questioned “the purpose” of prosecuting noncitizen voting because “very, very few” people do it. The next morning federal law enforcement announced charges against 28 noncitizens in California amid a crackdown on the state’s alleged mass noncitizen voter fraud scheme.
The Monday announcement came hours after CBS News aired a 60 Minutes segment in which Stahl tried to downplay the significance of election fraud while speaking with Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon.
“There are people who feel that the point is to sow distrust about the whole election system.” Stahl said, adding, “There are very few people who are noncitizens who end up voting. Very, very few. And so therefore what’s the purpose?”
“The point is actually the opposite of what you were saying. It’s not to sow distrust. The distrust is there,” Dhillon replied. “And so all of these kinds of crimes are being prosecuted now for the first time really in volume.”
On Monday, the Justice Department announced that as part of “Operation Protect the Vote,” the DOJ charged 28 noncitizens with felony offenses including illegally registering to vote in U.S. elections and lying on naturalization documents. Most of the noncitizens charged with illegally registering to vote allegedly cast ballots, according to the New York Post, and the DOJ press release specifically alleges that 23 noncitizens voted in U.S. elections.
One of the 11 arrestees detailed, Alexander Muñoz, allegedly registered to vote illegally in September of 2019, falsely claiming he was a citizen. He allegedly voted in four elections between 2020 and 2024. Muñoz reportedly is facing felony charges that include making false statements in a naturalization application after he allegedly lied and said he never claimed to be a citizen. --->READ MORE HERE
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