Trump says he urged California prosecutor to aid Hilton

President Donald Trump claimed during a speech in Pennsylvania on Tuesday that his direct intervention with a federal prosecutor in California secured Republican Steve Hilton’s place in the state’s gubernatorial runoff. Speaking at a truck manufacturing facility in Macungie, Trump said he called the prosecutor shortly after the June 2 primary election to demand an investigation into what he described as a rigged, slow-moving vote count, asserting that Hilton’s victory was announced about an hour later.

Trump made the remarks while criticizing California’s election processes, also alleging that another Republican candidate, Spencer Pratt, was cheated out of a runoff spot in the Los Angeles mayoral race. He did not name the specific federal prosecutor he claimed to have contacted. There are four U.S. attorneys in California, one for each federal district. Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in the Los Angeles-based Central District, announced on June 5 that his office was pursuing multiple election fraud investigations, though he provided no details.

Steve Hilton, a former Fox News host who is set to face Democrat and former Biden administration Health Secretary Xavier...