Two DOJ sources are are sounding the alarm, saying a top Justice Department official threatened managers in a recent conference call that federal prosecutors could be fired if they “decline to investigate and pursue cases of reported election fraud,” according to MS NOW.
“Aakash Singh, the top lieutenant to the deputy attorney general, warned that Department of Justice lawyers must pursue election fraud cases that FBI or Department of Homeland Security agents present to them, or risk termination, according to the people, who sought anonymity to avoid reprisals for sharing internal discussion,” reported MS NOW on Friday
The sources say Singh also told supervisors that the FBI and DHS “may overrule a prosecutor who declines to pursue one of their investigations, and that the office of the deputy attorney general would make the final decision on whether a case goes forward.”
The Guardian reported last year that Singh “pleaded guilty to driving under the influence four years ago, and that his subsequent elevation to a high-ranking post “is unusual in light of that arrest,” according to experts.
Aakash Singh became an associate deputy attorney general last year and immediately began instructing attorneys to “prioritize charges against protesters and people committing misdemeanors, even allegedly advising them to call new grand juries if they fail to get felony indictments,” said the Guardian.
Trump’s DOJ has aggressively pursued the president’s perceived enemies with investigations that often evaporate under jury or judicial scrutiny.
MS NOW reports Singh’s most recent threats reverberated through the DOJ, sending officials into a panic. Department leaders already regularly lose their jobs after failing to nab convictions against Trump’s targets.
“The news shocked many, because the instructions appeared to override and reject long-standing Justice Department rules that require prosecutors to independently assess whether the evidence presented to them justifies further investigation or possibly bringing a prosecution,” report MS NOW.
Justice Department spokesperson Emily Covington denied to MS NOW that Singh threatened firings.
“He never said anyone would be fired,” Covington said in an emailed statement. “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.”
MS NOW interviewed former Justice Department prosecutors and election security experts, who said that pressuring prosecutors to pursue election fraud cases is “dangerous for the public and ignores decades of department policy designed to avoid unfounded investigations.”
“If true, this is outrageous,” said Public Integrity Section former Justice Department prosecutor Ryan Crosswell. “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.”
Crosswell’s office oversaw election crime prosecutions before the Trump administration dismantled the office. Crosswell resigned his position in 2025 when Trump political appointee Emil Bove ordered his section to shut down a corruption investigation into Trump ally and then-New York Mayor Eric Adams.