Carol Leonig and Ken Dilanian for MS NOW

‘A top Justice Department official warned managers in a recent conference call that federal prosecutors could be fired if they decline to investigate and pursue cases of reported election fraud, according to two people with knowledge of the call.

‘Aakash Singh, the top lieutenant to the deputy attorney general, warned that Department of Justice lawyers must pursue election fraud cases that FBI or Department of Homeland Security agents present to them, or risk termination, according to the people, who sought anonymity to avoid reprisals for sharing internal discussion.

‘Singh also told supervisors that the FBI and DHS may overrule a prosecutor who declines to pursue one of their investigations, and that the office of the deputy attorney general would make the final decision on whether a case goes forward, one of the people told MS NOW.

 ‘Word of his comments, which came in the past week in a standing weekly conference call with the senior supervisors overseeing criminal prosecutions in U.S. attorneys’ offices, quickly spread through the department. The news shocked many, because the instructions appeared to override and reject long-standing Justice Department rules that require prosecutors to independently assess whether the evidence presented to them justifies further investigation or possibly bringing a prosecution.’

More details in the rest of the story.