William Barr
William BarrReuters

US Attorney General William Barr on Monday authorized federal prosecutors across the US to pursue “substantial allegations” of voting irregularities before the 2020 presidential election is certified, The Associated Press reports.

The move comes days after Joe Biden was projected by television networks to have defeated President Donald Trump in last week’s vote.

It gives prosecutors the ability to go around longstanding Justice Department policy that normally would prohibit such overt actions before the election is formally certified.

Trump has not conceded the election and is claiming that there has been a widespread, multi-state conspiracy by Democrats to skew the vote tally in Biden’s favor.

In a memo to US attorneys obtained by AP Barr wrote that investigations “may be conducted if there are clear and apparently-credible allegations of irregularities that, if true, could potentially impact the outcome of a federal election in an individual State.”

States have until December 8 to resolve election disputes, including recounts and court contests over the results. Members of the Electoral College meet December 14 to finalize the outcome.

Meanwhile on Monday, Trump’s campaign filed a lawsuit against Pennsylvania’s mail-in voting system, saying it “lacked all of the hallmarks of transparency and verifiability that were present for in-person voters”, reported Reuters.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in Pennsylvania seeks an emergency injunction to stop state officials from certifying Biden’s victory in the state.

Also on Monday, Fox Newscut away from a Trump campaign press conference outlining its allegations of election fraud in the presidential election.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany began her press conference by saying Democrats were the only party opposing voter ID, verifying signatures, citizenship, residency, eligibility, and trying to keep observers out of the count room.

“You take these positions because you are welcoming fraud and you are welcoming illegal voting,” she said just before Fox News cut away.

Host Neil Cavuto then said, “Whoa, whoa, whoa. I just think we have to be very clear: she's charging the other side as welcoming fraud and illegal voting, unless she has more details to back that up, I can't in good countenance continue to show you this.”