United States President Donald Trump could soon sign an executive order for launching an investigation into voter fraud on Thursday, a senior administration official said. Reports state that the Department of Justice will conduct the probe if Trump issues the order.
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Soon after Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton clinched the popular vote in the 2016 presidential elections by almost 3 million, Trump alleged that millions of illegal votes led to her victory. However, he did not have any evidence to support the claim.
Trump on Wednesday confirmed through a tweet that he will be ordering an investigation into voter fraud soon.
"I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and ... even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time). Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures!" Trump tweeted.
Reports state that Trump first wants to discuss his concerns with Republican lawmakers on Thursday in Philadelphia and then decide how to go about launching the investigation.
"He wants to tell them more about why he is talking about voter fraud" before taking any action, an administrative official told CNN. The official also added that the move by the US President could come as early as Thursday. However, the Trump team is concerned about initiating the probe before his attorney general pick Senator Jeff Sessions is confirmed by the Senate.
Trump allegedly reiterated his concerns during a meeting with congressional leaders on Monday claiming that 3 to 5 million illegal votes led to his loss. When pressed by ABC News on his opinion on voter fraud during an interview at the White House, Trump said, "You have people that are registered who are dead, who are illegals, who are in two states. You have people registered in two states. They're registered in a New York and a New Jersey. They vote twice. There are millions of votes, in my opinion."
The White House insisted on voter fraud and cited a Pew report claiming voter fraud during presidential elections. However, when Trump was informed that the author of the study told ABC's David Muir that there was no evidence of voter fraud in his study, Trump responded saying the author was "groveling."
"Of those votes cast, none of them come to me. None of them come to me. They would all be to the other side. None of them come to me. But when you look at the people registered, dead, illegal, and two states, and some cases maybe 3 states. We have a lot to look into," Trump was quoted as saying by CNN.
The director of the Pew study David Becker told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that "there is absolutely no evidence of voter fraud even approaching (the) scale" suggested by Trump.
