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Richard Pilger resigned as head of the Justice Department's election crimes branch Monday night, protesting Attorney General William Barr's memo authorizing federal prosecutors to pursue allegations of voting irregularities. 

 is seen as a step toward validating President Trump's baseless attacks on the integrity of an election in which he has been declared the loser.

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Pilger said Barr's memorandum breaks with the Justice Department's policy on avoiding interference with elections that has stood for 40 years. The policy had set a high bar for launching a public investigation into any election that has not yet been certified. Important deadlines to certify the U.S. presidential election 

Pilger announced his resignation from his leadership role in a letter to colleagues and staff. The letter was shared online by 

, the former head of the DOJ's civil rights division.

The DOJ's longstanding policy urges extreme caution in starting a public investigation before an election has been officially concluded, in part because doing so could chill legitimate voting and campaign activities. It also "runs the significant risk of interjecting the investigation itself as an issue, both in the campaign and in the adjudication of any ensuing election contest," according to the government's guidelines for prosecuting election offenses.

, issued in 2017, runs nearly 300 pages. Pilger served as its editor.

Because of the sensitive nature of the election process, the policy has long required a U.S. Attorney's Office to consult the DOJ's Public Integrity Section before moving beyond a preliminary investigation.

On Monday, Barr, one of Trump's most steadfast allies, authorized federal prosecutors to pursue "substantial allegations of voting and vote tabulation irregularities" in U.S. states. He criticized the existing guidance, calling it "a passive and delayed enforcement approach."

Barr qualified his stance by requiring any inquiries or reviews to be based on "clear and apparently-credible allegations of irregularities" that could — if proven true — affect the outcome of a federal election in an individual state. The attorney general also said his memo should not be taken to suggest the DOJ has "concluded that voting irregularities have impacted the outcome of any election."

Despite those caveats, Barr's policy is regarded as contributing to President Trump's "disinformation campaign about voting," as 

 And former Justice Department officials were quick to criticize the memo as overtly 

Politics and Government News

Election 2020

Bill Chappell

Author

The attorney general's policy breaks with the Justice Department's policy of not interfering with elections that has stood for 40 years, Richard Pilger says.

Head of DOJ's election crimes unit steps down after Barr OKs election inquiries

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