Trump announces ‘major’ voter fraud investigation
ASSOCIATED PRESS
President Donald Trump spoke during his meeting with automobile leaders in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington on Tuesday. Trump, despite occupying the most powerful office in the world, remains fixated on a belief that the legitimacy of his election is being challenged.
WASHINGTON >> President Donald Trump tweeted early today that he is ordering a “major investigation” into voter fraud, revisiting unsubstantiated claims he’s made repeatedly about a rigged voting system.
The investigation, he said, will look at those registered to vote in more than one state, “those who are illegal and … even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time).”
Depending on results, Trump tweeted, “we will strengthen up voting procedures!”
Trump has been fixated on his loss of the popular vote in the election and a concern that the legitimacy of his presidency is being challenged by Democrats and the media, aides and associates say.
Trump’s own attorneys dismissed claims of voter fraud in a legal filing responding to Green Party candidate Jill Stein’s demand for a recount in Michigan late last year.
“On what basis does Stein seek to disenfranchise Michigan citizens? None really, save for speculation,” the attorneys wrote. “All available evidence suggests that the 2016 general election was not tainted by fraud or mistake.”
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Secretaries of state across the country have dismissed Trump’s voter fraud claims as baseless. After the president’s morning tweets, Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted wrote on Twitter, “We conducted a review 4 years ago in Ohio & already have a statewide review of 2016 election underway. Easy to vote, hard to cheat.”
Trump’s exaggerations about inauguration crowds and assertions about illegal balloting have been distractions as advisers’ have tried to launch his presidency with a flurry of actions on the economy.
His spokesman, Sean Spicer, has twice stepped into the fray himself, including on Tuesday, when he doubled down on Trump’s false claim that he lost the popular vote because 3 million to 5 million people living in the U.S. illegally cast ballots.
All 50 states and the District of Columbia have finalized their election results with no reports of the kind of widespread fraud that Trump is alleging.
“He believes what he believes based on the information he was provided,” said Spicer, who provided no evidence to back up the president’s statements.
If the president’s claim were true it would mark the most significant election fraud in U.S. history — and ironically, would raise the same questions about Trump’s legitimacy that he’s trying to avoid. No details have been released about the possible probe.
Rep. Elijah Cummings, ranking Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said today his panel has already sent letters to the attorneys general in all 50 states asking for reports of any election irregularities.
“The president can join me and my staff,” Cummings said on MSNBC. He also said he wants Congress to restore voting protections, citing a Supreme Court ruling that “gutted” key sections of the Voting Rights Act, particularly the provision requiring southern states to get clearance in advance from the Justice Department before legislating changes in voting laws and procedures.
Some Trump allies say he is justified in using his platform to defend his standing. They point to Georgia Democratic Rep. John Lewis’ pre-inauguration statement that he did not see Trump as a legitimate president, as well as U.S. intelligence agencies’ assessment that Russia meddled in the election in order to help Trump win.
“Segments of his own government keep driving this narrative,” said Roger Stone, a longtime confidant. “I don’t think it hurts to point it out.”
Key advisers in Trump’s inner circle concede the focus on crowd claims and alleged voter fraud have been a distraction.
After Friday’s inaugural festivities, the new president grew increasingly upset the next day by what he felt was “biased” media coverage of women’s marches across the globe protesting his election, according to a person familiar with his thinking. Trump was particularly enraged with CNN, which he thought was “gloating” by continually running photos of the women’s march alongside the smaller crowds that attended his inauguration the day before, according to this person, one of several White House aides and associates who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations.
Tuesday night on Twitter, Trump slammed CNN again, referring to the network as “FAKE NEWS CNN” while praising rival Fox News Channel.
Trump has had a tumultuous relationship with the press, frequently calling the media dishonest and insulting individual reporters by name at his rallies and on Twitter. Still, two people close to Trump said he expected his coverage to turn more favorable once he took office. Instead, he’s told people he believes it’s gotten worse.
Those around Trump are trying to get the cable news consumer-in-chief to be near a television less often, according to one person who has spoken with him. The bad press over the weekend has not allowed Trump to “enjoy” the White House as he feels he deserves, according to one person who has spoken with him.
The result has been a full display of Trump’s propensity for exaggeration and more. During an appearance at the CIA Saturday, he wrongly said the inaugural crowds gathered on the National Mall stretched to the Washington Monument, despite clear photo evidence to the contrary. And during a reception with lawmakers from both parties Monday night, he repeated his false assertion that millions of illegal immigrants provided Hillary Clinton’s margin in the popular vote.
AP writers Stephen Ohlemacher and Vivian Salama contributed to this report.
49 responses to “Trump announces ‘major’ voter fraud investigation”
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George W Bush wasted almost 50 million dollars looking for voter fraud. Out of billions of votes during a six or seven year period the Justice Department turned up about 30 cases of voter fraud most of which were spouses voting for their disabled partner. Donald Trump will once again waste millions of dollars to sastisfy his hurt ego.
agree with OD: This nut lacks the judgment to be president. I fear for America under this tyrant’s regime…
Agree. Instead of Trump investigating U.S. voting fraud, why doesn’t he investigate Russia?
I’ll spell it out: Hillary and the Dems accused Trump with Russian tampering, and Don is accusing Hillary and the Dems of voter fraud.
Not hard to understand.
IRT GONEGOLFIN: Agree…How many fraud discoveries defines “Major” for both parties? #MAGA
Good! Move to Mexico, the loving people there will shelter you, offer you free health care and a job! Move already, I’ll pitch in to help you pack your $h!t!
If I remember right, it was Clinton supporters who was calling foul and wanted to discredit the election process including and amid claims that she got the popular vote. Now the question needs to be asked, “How many were undocumented aliens (Illegals)”.
California under their 2015 AB-60 law started issuing drivers licenses to illegal immigrants who could prove residency in California. The licenses cannot be used to vote according to their law, but you know how that goes when it comes to voter poll station volunteers who are very liberal. They see the person is Hispanic and disregard the fact that they cannot use their drivers license to vote, knowing that they will 100% vote Democrat.
Trump has a valid gripe, but it will be impossible to prove since California will not cooperate.
I’ve voted in California before and trust me they are not laxed in ensuring you are who you say you are, you’re address is correct, and that you have the right to vote! You’re basically accusing people in California of voter fraud because they are hispanic and liberal. Kind of racist.
50skane, 100% spot on!
realsamfisher, nothing racist about it. Illegals are even allowed to fly anywhere in the USA using the license even though they are not supposed to. The TSA allows them to travel just like the rest of us! What makes you think CA gives a rats a$$ about checking if they are citizens? haaaaaa Talk about a scam and gaming the system to it’s fullest!!!
I thought the Clinton supporters questioned the tie between the electoral college and the popular vote. Wasn’t that it?
I think you are referring to a third party group who found that in certain counties in the Midwest and North East Trump won by 7%. The 7% lead popped up on electronic voting machines. As computer scientists they urged a recount. Rightfully so statistically speaking. In some of the recounts completed Trump actually gained a few votes.
Trump just can’t believe he didn’t win the popular vote which is the vote that should count and not the out dated electorial vote. The popular vote is the majority vote of the American people. Thus Hilliary should be the current POTUS.
There goes the Clinton advantage in votes when it is found out and it will that a few blue states illegals got to vote. Easy solution classify those as criminals and deport them see the snowflakes run to support them. End result Hillary ran and over half of the country didn’t want her to be their President. Face the truth.
wow.
Alternative facts…great example here.
IRT OldDiver, I believe it’s time to have a complete review of the United States ballot voting process. The review can begin with two States and later expanded to other States. The review must come up with objectives and a process to clean up the system, using the most current technology and to protect the system from any attempts of hacking or abuse from anyone. Our voting system needs a lot of modernization and the removal of any possible means of fraud. Me thinks, the Democrats may find that there must be a photo or picture ID to vote, and many systems and be reviewed for use by States.
Yrump is crazy… like a fox!
Trump and Bannon’s voting strategy is a key aspect of their cunning plan to return America back to our glory days of Greatness again.
Trump knows that letting loser Dummocrats, uppity women, minorities, poor people and average citizens who are “absent all knowledge” will sway elective and pick weak pathetic candidates like Shillary and Odummer. Trump knows this won’t make America Great again anf wasn’t what our founding fathers put in place.
Only classy and luxuriously rich ubermen, like Trump, should be allowed to cast votes. Of course Trump will retain the beautiful electoral college system as well.
#MAGA? (Make America Glorious Again?)
Prevaricator in Chief!
Will the investigation be lead by the same investigator’s Trump sent to Hawaii to find evidence that Obama’s birth certificate was fake?
That’s a good one! If so, we won’t believe what they find, even though we won’t find out.
Where’s the lady that verified the birth certificate? Let’s go there.
Loretta Fuddy died in the plane crash.
Where’s the Doctor/family who can verify the birth?
Nurses who were there?
Just asking.
Trump’s team should start here http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3902690/Questions-voter-fraud-man-finds-83-ballots-shipped-single-address-apartment-complex.html
Funny errors like these only happen when the massive devout “D” states like CA mine big-data and only send out 80+ ballots to addresses with Hispanic surnames registered at the address. 😉
According to the president’s spokesman,, “He believes what he believes based on the information he was provided.” Clearly, trump’s ego will not let him focus on the serious business of governing the country. He is delusional.
Master of deception.
What a waste of time and resources! Time to get rid of the dam-idio-.
President Trump is moving fast and the cockroaches are running amuck. What will he do next? Eight great years ahead.
Moving fast? The dum-y is stuck in reverse dealing with his voterphobia. His staff must be really hard up for work because you cannot keep flies away from a pile of s–t. You have to remove the source of the stench.
Be
If he believes that there was widespread voter fraud then let’s throw out the results and do it over…
This is all about Trump’s ego; he cannot accept the fact that he lost the popular vote becoming losing to him is unacceptable. He cannot accept that Obama’s inauguration crowd was bigger than his because of his ego.
Trump should fund this investigation on his own dime seeing as how it’s only important to him. Then, once he gets the results he can just say the “alternative facts” show there was voter fraud in a few instances. Won’t need to say he was off by a few million. Frankly, my guess is he’ll walk this back after consulting with advisers. Just another “3 a.m.” tweet by our president.
From David Becker, who authored a 2012 Pew study on outdated voter registration: “you’re more likely to get bitten by a shark who’s won the Powerball lottery than, you know, find someone who committed voter fraud (in the 2016 election).”
holy crap, what a waste of tax payers dollars!! This guy needs to stay on track as our leader.
Wonder if it will be the same investigators that Trump sent to Hawaii to investigate Obama’s birth certificate. Remember “You won’t believe what they’re finding”? Were still waiting for the results of that big lie. The lie about 5 million “illegals” voting is just another example of Putin playing Trump like an orange Stradivarius to discredit American democracy.
This is an AP hit piece on President Trump, by baiting him and trying to draw out a nothing story into something more than just fluff. The President has a duty to verify the veracity of the election, since trust in government by the people is the key to success. If the voters think that the election is a total sham, they will not respect the authority of government, or they will not bother to vote. Both aspects benefit no one, so President Trump is spending money wisely to root out voter fraud, and making it harder to do.
I disagree – this is a waste of time and money. As President, he needs to lead the country, not try to defend his fragile ego. Investigations have been done in the past, and have all led to the same conclusion: there is no widespread voter fraud.
However, if he chooses to “verify the veracity of the election” as you state, then he also needs to investigate Russia, whom our intelligence sources say may have interfered in the election process. He should not be doing one without doing the other.
Mai don’t you think that last Saturday’s world wide protests is more than enough proof that the Chumps authority is questioned and definitively not respected.
Another Trump lie exposed in Senate testimony:
SEN SHERROD BROWN (D-OH); President Trump said he is working with you on a replacement plan for the ACA which is nearly finished and will be revealed after your confirmation. Is that true?
REP TOM PRICE: It’s true that he said that, yes. (Room erupts in laughter.)
There is a problem out there with illegal voters. I’m originally from Hawaii, but I practiced law on the mainland. During jury selection in two different trials, the prospective jurors were asked if there was a good reason they couldn’t serve on the jury. Two different people, both Hispanic, said that they couldn’t because they weren’t American citizens. Our jury pool is selected from the list of registered voters in our county. The judge did excuse them, of course, and they got their cake and eat it too. Not only did they vote, they got excused from jury duty. There should be a thorough investigation in this matter. Once the illegals start to vote, they become empowered.
BINGO! Many here in Hawaii have never really traveled to the mainland, they have no clue how messed up our verification system is! Illegals gaming the system to the fullest and laughing all the way to the bank with free health care and benefits even US Citizens can’t get and WE ARE PAYING for all of it!
jill stein forced a recall in a few states, democrats quickly joined in. michigan’s recall uncovered what democrats call “voting irregularities.” in detroit alone, more than a third of detroit’s voting precincts.
many detroit precincts reported more votes cast than registered voters in the precinct. others could not be included in the recount because of broken ballot box seals, an indication of possible “voting irregularities.”
one precinct’s ballot box tally records indicated 306 ballots cast and in the box. when the box was opened it only contained 50 ballots, another example of democrat “voter irregularity.”
if not for jill stein’s unusual recount request these “voting irregularities” in michigan would never have come to light.
triumph is to be applauded for his instincts and efforts to determine if democrat “voting irregularities” that permeated detroit’s ballot boxes were in fact symptoms of nationwide democrat voter fraud.
american citizens need to be reassured that the sanctity of their ballots is not corrupted by voter fraud or what democrats call “voting irregularities.”
in detroit alone, more than a third of detroit’s voting precincts.
should be:
in detroit alone, more than a third of detroit’s voting precincts could not be included in the recount because of “voting irregularities.”
Mr. Trump is doing all this shibai to cover the other actions he is taking. By making outlandish comments and putting out alternative facts, the spotlight gets turned on something stoopid. He’s a wily guy. He’s a business man. He runs a great circus. Hearing a lot of congressional majority people questioning what he’s doing.
All this stuff about counts and illegal votes don’t mean anything. Did this cost him an election? What injury did he suffer?
The more important things are his appointments and executive orders. The spotlight should go to all of these things. IMBW but it seems this administration is the first to do so many executive orders dismantling another administrations accomplishments.
Went to a doctor appointment yesterday and the doctors seem to be very worried about if patients will still be able to get good health care.
Seen twump on hd tv on mainland. He’s rebooting his hair. Less fluf. The make up artist uses a sprayer with lest orange. I guess orange was a popular “fall” color. You know Halloween and such. They are also darkening his hair yo a more california blond. Can’t wait to see berMuda shorts and windbreakers. He’s signing thongs on a fly saying “my pick,so and so, will be in charge. Then he runs back to nap.
Anyone who does not believe voter fraud exists needs a reality check. Fraud exists in just about everything that happens in the USA, so it is more than reasonable to conclude it exists with voting, but to what extent we do not know. It also is not a matter of illegal immigrants voting; it involves US citizens as well. My wife and I were registered to vote in Florida in the 1980s before moving to Hawaii. We registered to vote in Hawaii and notified the Florida County Registrar we no longer were Florida residents. Nevertheless, we continued receiving absentee ballots from Florida for several years despite returning the ballots with notations that we were no longer residents of that state. We could have voted twice, but we did not. Fast forward to 2016. We applied for Hawaii absentee ballots because we were going to be out of the country on Election Day. The absentee ballots were received at the oversea lodging facility at which we were staying. We completed the ballots and returned them using international mail. Not long thereafter I received an email from my daughter in Hawaii saying that “Vote by Mail” ballots for me and my wife were mailed to our home in Hawaii. I could not understand how it was possible for the Honolulu City Clerks’ Office to send us absentee ballots and Vote by Mail ballots for the same election and wondered how many other absentee voters also received “Vote by Mail” ballots. We could have voted a second time if we had returned to Hawaii before the election and possibly a third time if our names were on the walk-in voter rolls. I like to think that other people who may have received two ballots for the election voted once only, but given the rampant fraud that exists with almost everything we do, it is very likely that some knowingly and illegally voted twice.
Did you bring this to anyone’s attention, or just let it go. You’re just as guilty if you didn’t say anything about this since you had hard evidence to prove that voter fraud can easily happen. This should have made headline news.
I don’t think there’s any question that situations like yours arise. But Trump’s contention is that things like this happen in quantities of millions and people are doing the wrong thing in quantities of millions. And that is where Pew studies come in showing registered dead people and double registrations and the like. Despite all these issues, there has been no evidence of actual fraud happening. Does it happen? Yes. To the tune of 3 million people? No, says the evidence.