The first arrest in what a Trump administration prosecutor says will be a broader election fraud crackdown was announced Friday in Los Angeles, and the White House seized on the case to hit back at longtime critics.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli announced a Honduran national was charged with two felony counts and could face deportation if convicted, while criticizing Californias current voter registration safeguards and renewing DOJ demands for a voter roll audit.Â
“Todays arrest is the first of many to come. Unfortunately, because states like California allow non-citizens to easily register to vote and receive a ballot by mail, theres no telling how many non-citizens are currently registered to vote,” Essayli said in a statement announcing the capture of Darwin Jonathan Rivera Flores.
“We again renew our request that California immediately comply with our requests to audit their voter rolls so that all voters can have confidence in our elections.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Gov. Gavin Newsom for comment.
Rivera Flores, of the Winnetka neighborhood west of Van Nuys, was charged with fraudulent voter registration and false claim of U.S. citizenship. He did not vote in an election, according to the DOJ.Â
Rivera Flores entered the U.S. during the George W. Bush administration and was a green card holder, but was not a U.S. citizen, according to an affidavit.
He was previously charged with a misdemeanor for “disrupting immigration law enforcement operations” at a federal building in Camarillo, California, and sentenced to one year of probation.
Rivera Flores also allegedly sent a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agent a slew of taunting text messages, calling the officer “not the good guy” and saying he could not “wait until the midterms” because he believed the agent would not have qualified immunity, legal protection that can shield law enforcement officers from certain civil claims arising from their official conduct.
Text messages between Rivera Flores and the agent reviewed by Fox News show several profane jabs directed at the officer, including, “How you f—ing treat people … thats not f—ing protecting, youre hurting these people,” and, “Chris, you know youre a b—-, right.”
CLICK BELOW TO READ THE AFFIDAVIT
Rivera Flores obtained the agents number after the agent unblocked it on his government-issued phone to contact him during an investigation, according to the affidavit.
The White House said Rivera Flores case indicates mainstream media and political critics are off base in their countervailing reporting and allegations about the existence of voter fraud.
“Despite the media and Democrats claiming it never happens, the evidence of noncitizens registering to vote in our elections continues to pile up,” White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis told Fox News Digital.
“Any non-citizens found registering to vote and voting in our elect
