LOS ANGELES (AP) — The U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles said Friday it had opened “multiple election fraud investigations” related to California's elections and sent a prosecutor to the county's vote-counting center.
The developments came a day after President Donald Trump made baseless claims of mass fraud in California's drawn-out vote count from Tuesday's primary. Late-tallied Democratic-leaning mail ballots were continuing to eat into the vote totals for the president's preferred candidates for governor and Los Angeles mayor.
The announcement by U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, Trump's appointee as the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, and the visit to Los Angeles County's ballot tabulation center marked an escalation in the president's campaign against the Democratic-dominated state, whose notoriously prolonged vote count has been a magnet for election conspiracy theories. Trump weighed in again Friday while participating in a roundtable discussion in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, claiming without evidence that Democrats were rigging the election.
“You look at what’s happening — it’s getting tighter and tighter and tighter,” he said. “And the people who were supposed to win, bad things are happening. It’s a crooked state.”
Trump has often said that changes to vote totals as late ballots are counted are a sign of fraud, when they're merely a reflection of more ballots being counted.
On Thursday, Trump said his Department of Justice was investigating the California count. By Friday morning, Essayli posted on X about ongoing investigations without providing details, saying only that California’s elections have “serious structural vulnerabilities.”
An assistant U.S. attorney came to the main ballot processing center Friday morning, according to a statement from Mike Sanchez, a spokesman for Los Angeles County's Registrar-Recorder. The prosecutor “was provided an overview of the public observation program, and participated in a walkthrough of the ballot processing operations,” Sanchez said.
He added that “election officials routinely host observers representing a wide range of interests.”
It was not the first time Trump's Justice Department has taken an interest in California's elections. Last fall, it sent observers to monitor polling sites in five counties, including Los Angeles, during the special election asking voters to change California's congressional map.
Also on Friday, Republican Steve Hilton, who is Trump's favored candidate for governor, called for a sweeping overhaul in California's election laws to limit mail ballots to only those who request them, rather than being sent to all registered voters. He also called for an Election Day deadline to accept them rather than the seven-day grace period the state currently allows as long as they are postmarked by the final day of voting.
Hilton said in an interview that the U.S. attorney's office might know more than his campaign does, but noted his team has been monitoring the count and has seen nothing that seems illegal.
“We certainly haven’t seen anything of that nature that would warrant legal action,” Hilton said.
Still, Hilton said the sluggish count has made California “a national and international laughingstock.” He proposed the state government send an emergency detachment of state workers to California's 58 counties to speed up the vote count.
Jesse Salinas, president of the California Association of Clerks and Election Officers, said he welcomed Hilton's eagerness to help but the proposal would do no good.
“It'd be more disruptive than helpful at this point,” said Salinas, who's also the clerk and registrar for Yolo County.
Anyone who handles a ballot or machine used in the vote-counting process would have to be trained by the very people working feverishly to tally mail ballots that poured in Tuesday. And, added Salinas, his own vote-counting facility is already full, with no more room for any additional staff.
Hilton, who has been endorsed by Trump, is battling two Democrats for one of the two slots on the November ballot. Reality television star Spencer Pratt, another candidate backed by Trump, is likewise competing with City Councilwoman Nithya Raman for the chance to face Mayor Karen Bass in the November election.
Because Democrats usually vote by mail, and held onto their ballots unusually late in the crowded primary, their votes are often tallied after those of more Republican-leaning voters who might have cast ballots early. The net effect is that Republican candidates appear at their high water marks in the first batch of returns on election night, only to see their leads whittled away in the days or weeks that follow, when election workers complete the lengthy process of tallying late-arriving mail ballots.
Ballots are inspected the day after California's primary election at the Los Angeles County Ballot Processing Center Wednesday, June 3, 2026, in City of Industry, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
California Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton speaks to reporters outside the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
Ballots are inspected the day after California's primary election at the LA County Ballot Processing Center Wednesday, June 3, 2026, in City of Industry, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
NEW DELHI (AP) — Hundreds of supporters of the Cockroach Janata Party, an online joke that drew millions across India, gathered for the first time in the national capital on Saturday, taking the social media movement off screens and into its biggest real-world test yet.
The protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, marks the movement’s first foray into street politics after weeks of dominating social media feeds and news headlines, attracting millions of online followers and widespread support among young Indians.
Hundreds of mostly young Indians gathered in the heart of New Delhi’s protest zone near Parliament, some with placards and cockroach masks. How many ultimately would join remained unclear, making the event an early test of whether the movement can channel its online popularity into a broader grassroots support around growing frustration among young Indians over education, jobs and economic prospects.
Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the online movement, arrived in the capital from the U.S. on Saturday to participate in the protest. Police laid steel barricades at arrivals at New Delhi's international airport.
Dipke said in a social media post that police granted permission to the Cockroach Janta Party, or CJP, to hold the protest, saying, “Cockroaches gather at Jantar Mantar.”
CJP organizers used social media to rally supporters for Saturday’s march, demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. The demand grew out of an exam irregularity controversy in May that quickly became a broader outlet for frustration over India’s education system and limited job opportunities.
Supporters chanted slogans including, “Cockroaches are coming, Dharmendra Pradhan is going!”
Participants were encouraged to bring India’s national flag and a book, which organizers said symbolized right to education and equal opportunity for all. Organizers also urged demonstrators to remain peaceful and avoid any confrontations with police.
“Time to turn this tiny joke into a revolution,” the official CJP account on X posted Friday.
The CJP emerged only three weeks ago to become an unlikely outlet for discontent among supporters who proudly call themselves “cockroaches.”
India’s Chief Justice Surya Kant likened critics and some unemployed youth to cockroaches during a May hearing, sparking backlash among frustrated young Indians. Dipke, a political communications strategist and Boston University student, used the insult as inspiration for a parody political party. Within a week of launching a website and social media accounts, CJP's Instagram page had amassed more than 15 million followers.
The party has turned the cockroach into a wry badge of endurance and political articulation. Videos and memes lampooning unemployment, corruption and political dysfunction have drawn millions of views online. Parody CJP accounts also have adopted the cockroach as a political symbol and use memes, mock campaign slogans and satirical commentary.
The movement’s tongue-in-cheek messaging blends self-deprecating humor with political criticism. Supporters jokingly describe themselves as unemployed, perpetually online and shut out of meaningful influence. Beneath the humor lies a broader criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, as CJP supporters argue that ordinary Indians, particularly young people, have been left with fewer opportunities.
Young people in India make up more than a quarter of the population but face limited job opportunities, rising unemployment and growing disillusionment with traditional politics. Many young voters also are critical of Modi’s ruling Hindu nationalist ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, citing concerns over rising religious polarization, widening inequality and mounting economic pressures.
The movement's skeptics, particularly supporters of Modi’s party, dismiss the phenomenon as little more than a social-media gimmick. They argue the movement’s online popularity may not translate into street mobilization and that its rapid rise is likely fleeting.
The group's rise echoes a similar trend across South Asia of youth movements born out of social media playing a central role in anti-government protests, including uprisings in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and unrest in Nepal.
The movement still faces significant hurdles. Over the past decade, Indian authorities under Modi have sought to stamp out protests against his government, including demonstrations against a controversial citizenship legislation and yearlong farmers' protests.
Some protest movements also have faced legal action against organizers and activist arrests, which is part of what critics describe as a broader effort by authorities under Modi to suppress dissent.
Associated Press journalist Shonal Ganguly in New Delhi contributed to this report.
Abhijeet Dipke, center, founder of the Cockroach Janta Party gestures as he manages the crowd during a protest demonstration in New Delhi, India, Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Supporters of the Cockroach Janta Party shout slogans against the government during a protest in New Delhi, India, Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
A participant wears a cockroach mask as supporters of the Cockroach Janta Party gather for a protest demonstration in New Delhi, India, Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Abhijeet Dipke, center, founder of Cockroach Janta Party shows the autobiography of Bhim Rao Ambedkar as he comes out at Indira Gandhi International airport in New Delhi, India, Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Saurabh Das, center, spokesperson of Cockroach Janta Party waits for the arrival of Abhijeet Dipke, founder of CJP at Indira Gandhi International airport in New Delhi, India, Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Abhijeet Dipke, center, founder of Cockroach Janta Party shows the autobiography of Bhim Rao Ambedkar as he comes out at Indira Gandhi International airport in New Delhi, India, Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Abhijeet Dipke founder of Cockroach Janta Party shows the autobiography of Bhim Rao Ambedkar as he comes out at Indira Gandhi International airport in New Delhi, India, Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Security personnel stand guard before the arrival of Abhijeet Dipke, founder of Cockroach Janta at Indira Gandhi International airport in New Delhi, India, Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
