The president has continued to push false claims of election fraud despite twice being indicted for his post-election efforts.
Key Facts
Trump railed against the 2020 election results on Truth Social Friday morning, claiming the election was a “total FRAUD.”
The president said a “Special Prosecutor must be appointed” to investigate the election results, adding, “Let the work begin!”
Independent investigations have repeatedly determined there was no widespread fraud in the 2020 election, with experts debunking Trump’s allegations of wrongdoing, and every legal case Trump and his allies have previously brought alleging fraud has failed in court.
Special prosecutors are independent third-party counsel that the attorney general appoints to oversee investigations about issues where the Justice Department might have a conflict of interest in prosecuting the case themselves, such as Jack Smith overseeing the federal government’s criminal cases against Trump when he was out of office.
Trump could not order a special prosecutor investigation himself, but Attorney General Pam Bondi, a close ally who has so far acted in line with the president’s agenda, could decide to appoint one in response to his request.
The Justice Department has not yet responded to a request for comment. Does Trump Believe His Voter Fraud Claims?
Trump’s continued claims that the 2020 election was “rigged” come after Smith and the Biden-era DOJ alleged Trump has pushed his fraud claims despite knowing they were false. In court filings for the federal criminal case over Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results—which has since been dropped—prosecutors alleged Trump was repeatedly told by top advisors that there was no evidence of widespread fraud in the election.
