Team Trump keeps trying (and failing) to find evidence to bolster election conspiracy theories

Federal agencies have spent months hunting for proof of Donald Trump's claims that elections were rigged, and they have come up empty. MS NOW's Steve Benen argues the effort is failing because the evidence does not exist, even as the president says the claims have already been vindicated.

The Atlantic reports that FBI Director Kash Patel has been briefed on election investigations in Arizona, Florida, New Jersey, Ohio and other places, many opened at the White House's request and described as a priority for the president. Three people familiar with the discussions say Patel, frustrated by the lack of new findings, has told staff to "look harder." Reuters reports that Kurt Olsen, who recently left the Justice Department's "grand conspiracy" probe, spent months trying to back up the president's 2020 theories and found nothing. MS NOW has reported that federal prosecutors have been warned they could be fired if they refuse to bring the voter fraud cases Trump wants. The Associated Press says the administration's drive against noncitizen voting has shown such cases to be rare, hard to prove and not outcome-changing.

Summarized by PolitiKool from MS NOW’s reporting. Read the full story at MS NOW →