By Jan Wolfe

(Reuters) – A year ago, a mob led by Donald Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol to try to reverse his defeat in 2020 elections. The Republican ex-president continues to make false accusations and blame widespread voter fraud for Trump’s loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

Courts, states governments and even members of his former administration have rejected these claims. Trump and his followers have tried to downplay or denigrate the violence which occurred at the U.S. Congress’ seat on Jan. 6, 2021.

These are examples of Trump’s falsified claims being repudiated by federal and state officials.

FEDERAL AGENCIES

Top U.S. intelligence agencies and law enforcement authorities concluded there wasn’t widespread voter fraud during the November 3, 2020 presidential election.

Former U.S. Attorney General William Barr, the nation’s top law enforcement official under Trump, said https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-biden/barr-sees-no-sign-of-major-u-s-vote-fraud-despite-trumps-claims-idUSKBN28B5UK on Dec. 1, 2020, that he had not seen any evidence of fraud that would have changed the election results.

Barr was more pointed in a later interview https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2021/06/william-barrs-trump-administration-attorney-general/619298/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AtlanticPoliticsChannel+%28The+Atlantic+-+Politics%29 with journalist Jonathan Karl for Karl’s book “Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show.”

Karl Barr stated that Barr had not been able to find any evidence of fraud. “But I suspected all along that there wasn’t anything there. This was just bullshit.

The 2020 presidential election was the most secure in American history, according to a statement https://www.cisa.gov/news/2020/11/12/joint-statement-elections-infrastructure-government-coordinating-council-election issued by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, on Nov. 12, 2020.

According to the statement, “There’s no evidence any voting system lost, deleted, modified, or was compromised.”

COURTCASES

Trump’s allies and state and federal judges have dismissed over 50 cases challenging Trump’s election.

Numerous judges, including Trump appointees pointed out that there is no proof of fraudulently cast ballots.

U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann, a conservative jurist in Pennsylvania, issued a decision https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-pennsylvania/u-s-judge-calls-trump-claim-challenging-biden-win-in-pennsylvania-frankensteins-monster-idUSKBN2810WR on Nov. 21, 2020, that dismissed the Trump campaign’s effort to block the certification of Biden’s victory in the key election battleground state.

Brann said, “One might think that plaintiffs would be armed with convincing legal arguments and evidence of rampant corruption when they seek such a surprising outcome.” This Court is instead presented with weak legal arguments, without merit, and speculative charges.

Brann said that Trump’s assertions were “haphazardly crafted” and said, “This claim, just like Frankenstein’s Monster has been haphazardly put together.”

A Trump appointee in Milwaukee, U.S. District Judge Brett Ludwig, similarly rebuked https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election/trump-castigates-supreme-court-barr-as-election-challenges-sputter-idUSKBN28M0T7 a Trump campaign lawsuit contesting the election results in that state.

Ludwig gave the Trump campaign a full day of hearing, unlike other judges that dismissed cases for procedural reasons. He also allowed them to examine evidence that Wisconsin election rules had been violated. Ludwig determined that the evidence was woefully inadequate.

Ludwig said that “This court gave the plaintiff the opportunity to make his case” and that he lost the case on merits.

STATE AUDITS

Georgia, which was an election-battleground state, was won narrowly by Biden. Brad Raffensperger conducted a post election audit. Raffensperger is a Republican and was also the highest ranking election official in Georgia.

“The audit confirmed that the original machine count accurately portrayed the winner of the election,” Raffensperger’s office said https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-election-georgia/georgia-confirms-bidens-victory-in-state-as-it-completes-hand-audit-of-ballots-idUKKBN280014 on Nov. 19, 2020.

In Arizona, a review https://www.reuters.com/world/us/arizona-republicans-release-findings-widely-panned-election-audit-2021-09-24 of results by Trump allies in its most populous county reaffirmed Biden’s victory in the crucial state.

Arizona Senate President Karen Fann is a Republican. She was the one who opened the door to the “fullforensic audit” in Maricopa County of the 2.1 million votes. Fann stated in September that overall results from the review were consistent with the November initial results.

THE RIOT

Trump’s and Republican lawmakers have also been criticized by Federal Judges for trying to downplay the devastating attack on America’s Capitol.

“I’m especially troubled by the accounts of some members of Congress that Jan. 6 was just a day of tourists walking through the Capitol,” U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth said https://www.reuters.com/world/us/what-planet-are-they-judge-blasts-republicans-downplaying-attack-us-capitol-2021-06-23 during a June court hearing. I don’t know where these people live.”

Beryl Howell (chief judge at the Washington federal district court) stated that the “rioters weren’t mere protesters” in October. She also said that there had been “shocking criminal behavior that was a grave threat our democratic norms” on the day the riot occurred.

According to Justice Department, approximately 140 police officers were hurt while trying to defend the Capitol.

More than 725 individuals were charged by federal prosecutors with different crimes related to the Capitol Riot. 215 people were arrested for assault and resisting arrest. Over 75 were accused of using deadly or dangerous weapons against officers.