Op-Ed: Proof of massive election fraud finally emerges

Donald Trump has been obsessed with the idea that fraud, perpetrated before, during and after the 2020 election, affected the outcome.

The mainstream media has repeatedly debunked these claims, but Trump and many of his supporters persist in claiming that there was massive election fraud last year.

Now that a year has passed since the election, let’s examine the evidence that has been produced to establish fraudulent activity by or on behalf of the presidential candidates. The evidence from the two-month period immediately following the election produced zero evidence of election misconduct.

Ten days after the election, Trump’s Homeland Security officials declared: “The November 3rd election was the most secure in American history.”

Trump’s supporters filed and lost at least 63 lawsuits challenging various aspects of the election. They were unable to furnish an iota of competent evidence of election impropriety.

The Trump-stacked U.S. Supreme Court tossed or ignored several cases, including a completely meritless case brought by the Texas Attorney General.

The prospects of finding significant election fraud appeared sparse until far-right media, including Fox News host Tucker Carlson, touted a clearcut case of fraud in Nevada. A Las Vegas man claimed someone had fraudulently voted an absentee ballot that had been mailed to his deceased wife. The only problem is that criminal charges have just been brought against the Trump-supporting Republican husband for casting the illicit vote.

Another embarrassing misfire recently occurred when Texas GOP Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick had to pay a $25,000 bounty to a Pennsylvania poll worker who reported a Trump supporter who voted twice in that state. Patrick had announced last year that he would pay up to a million dollars to anyone who could provide solid proof of voter fraud in the U.S. The poll worker, a Democrat, has been the only person to receive a payment.

However, Trump may be vindicated for his claims of massive election fraud because frightening supportive evidence of fraud has been coming to light in recent days. What appeared at first glance to be a somewhat spontaneous attack on the seat of our government on Jan. 6 by ragtag groups now appears to have been part of a Trump-orchestrated attack on our governmental structure. The fact that Trump and his co-conspirators failed is of little comfort because they are laying the groundwork to succeed next time — and there will be a next time.

There is documentary evidence that the attack on the Capitol was part of a plan to nullify the election of Joe Biden and give Trump an additional four years in office, despite the fact that he lost the election. It appears the Trump forces were following a plan laid out in writing by attorney John Eastman, a Trump loyalist. The Eastman Memorandum specified the steps Trump forces should take in order to deprive Biden of his convincing election victory and give Trump another four years.

The linchpin of Eastman’s plan was for Vice President Pence to announce during the tally of the electoral votes that there were competing slates of electors for seven states (there were not) and rule that the winner of the election would have to be decided by the House of Representatives, where Republicans controlled 26 of the 50 state delegations.

It was pure legal fantasy, but it was the plan adopted by the Trump forces. The rioters were riled up the morning of Jan. 6 and pointed toward the Capitol as a means of intimidating VP Pence, who was reluctant to carry out his part of the plan.

So, yes, there has been a concerted effort to perpetrate election fraud on the American people, just as Trump has been proclaiming. The problem is that the fraudsters are not the Democrats but, rather, Trump and his co-conspirators.

• • •

Jim Jones is a Vietnam combat veteran who served eight years as Idaho Attorney General (1983-1991) and 12 years as Justice of the Idaho Supreme Court (2005-2017). He is currently a regular contributor to The Hill online news. He blogs at JJCommonTater.