Latest news with #ElectionFraud
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Teaching Trump's 2020 election lies turns civics into propaganda
This fall, if you're a high school student in Oklahoma, you will be taught in history class that the Democrats stole the 2020 presidential election from Donald Trump. Though disproven by numerous recounts and over 60 court cases in multiple states, the Republican-led Oklahoma Department of Education is requiring that this debunked conspiracy theory be taught as fact. Yes, boys and girls, we have now reached that point in fascist dogma where we start rewriting history to serve the agenda of Dear Leader. Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy ride. For four-and-a-half years now, Trump and his disciples have been claiming the 2020 election was rigged and that he won. And yet, in all that time, no one − not Trump, not Tucker Carlson, not Sean Hannity, not Steve Bannon, not even the MyPillow Guy (Mike Lindell) − has ever been able to explain, step-by-step, how it was done. As former New York City Mayor and disbarred lawyer Rudy Giuliani admitted to the judge in one of the 60-odd court filings lost by the Trump campaign: "We have no evidence, but we have lots of theories... ." Very well. Let's examine some of those theories. On the face of it, this seems very believable. Every day, we read about cyber-crooks hacking into and commandeering computers. But voting machines are not the same as personal computers. They are simple tabulating machines. They have no modems and are not connected to the internet, so it's impossible to hack them. It would be like trying to call someone who doesn't have a phone. (This includes people voting multiple times, dead people or illegal immigrants voting, or suitcases full of fraudulent ballots being slipped into the counting centers.) Fifty years ago, before government records were computerized, it might have been possible to slip a few dead or fake names onto voting lists. But now, cross-referencing of death certificates, property transfers and other government documents allows for voter rolls to be cleaned up daily. And it should be obvious to anyone who has ever voted just how ridiculous Trump's claims are when he says, "People are changing their hats and coats and voting over and over again." Elections aren't raffles. You can't just walk into any precinct on Election Day and fill out a ballot. You have to register first, and give your name and address and birth certificate or other identification information (all of which is cross-referenced with tax records, death records, etc.), after which you are assigned a specific precinct where you have to vote. (Your mail-in ballot also goes to that specific precinct.) So if a precinct with 2,000 registered voters has 3,000 votes cast (or even 2001), it would be immediately obvious that something was amiss, and an investigation would be launched. In 2020, not a single precinct in the entire country reported more votes tallied than there were registered voters in that precinct. This is one of the sillier theories, for it's the software (the program with the ballot on it), not the machine itself, that would have to be rigged, and the ballots are created by the various states. The very notion that any multi-billion-dollar company would risk utter ruin by taking part in a conspiracy that could be discovered by any computer expert, is so ridiculous that FOX News hosts mocked the allegations in their private texts as "insane lies" and "mind blowingly nuts," yet nonetheless promoted the lie on air (as did Newsmax and OAN). All three networks have subsequently paid out massive defamation settlements to both Dominion and Smartmatic Corporations, manufacturers of the voting machines. In short, none of the 2020 election fraud conspiracies stand up to even the most cursory examination. They are just lies spewed out for Trump's loyal supporters who want to believe them. George Orwell warned of the consequences when a society values ideology over truth, and no matter how much Oklahoma Republicans want to believe Trump's "Big Lie," altering history is never a good idea. Just ask Winston Smith. Keith Thompson lives in Fort Thomas, Ky., and is a historian and author of '2024,' a political thriller set against the background of the 2024 election. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Trump's Big Lie is now part of Oklahoma schools curriculum | Opinion
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump appoints former Fox News host as interim U.S. attorney for D.C.
May 9 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump has appointed former Fox News host and ex-prosecutor Jeanine Pirro as interim U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C. Trump made the announcement on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Thursday, after withdrawing his original pick for the job due to a lack of congressional support for confirmation. Pirro continues the trend of Trump, a former TV personality himself, selecting people for his cabinet and other positions from among Fox News personalities and those who pushed his false claims of election fraud. "Jeanine is incredibly well qualified for this position, and is considered one of the Top District Attorneys in the History of the State of New York," Trump said in the post, without providing proof. "She is in a class by herself." Trump picked Pirro after abandoning Ed Martin, as it became clear this week he would not have the votes for Senate confirmation. Martin was a controversial pick for the position, as the only prosecutorial experience he had gained came after Trump named him interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia on Jan. 20. A far-right activist, Martin supported the president's false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election who has aligned himself with Jan. 6 defendants, reasons why Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said he could not support his nomination. On Friday night, Trump said in a statement that Martin will be named the new director of the Justice Department's Weaponization Working Group. "In these highly important roles, Ed will make sure we finally investigate the Weaponization of our Government under the Biden Regime," Trump said, "and provide much needed Justice for its victims." Like Martin, Pirro has been accused of supporting Trump's claims of election fraud following his 2020 loss to Joe Biden, and was among Fox News hosts named in a lawsuit brought against the broadcaster by Dominion Voting Systems for spreading Trump's false election denial claims. Fox News and Dominion settled the lawsuit in April 2023, with Fox agreeing to pay the election company $787.5 million. "Grand slam, home run, hat trick pick," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said in a statement Friday. "She is exactly the right person at the right time to take on this responsibility," he continued, adding that "This is exactly what is needed to clean up DC." Pirro was elected a Westchester County Court judge in 1990 and became the county's district attorney three years later. In the 2000s, she became a right-wing TV personality, hosting Justice w/ Judge Jeanine from 2011-2021 and The Five from 2021-2022, according to her IMDb page. "Jeanine Pirro is yet another unqualified TV personality with a history of putting Trump and violent insurrectionists above the rule of law," the Democratic National Committee said Friday in a statement. "She'll be a disaster for public safety and an embarrassment to law enforcement -- just like Trump's last failed pick for the same job."
The Guardian
07-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Embattled Voice of America to use newsfeed from hard-right network
A hard-right, Trump-supporting US news network that perpetuated conspiracy theories about the 2020 election will provide news coverage for Voice of America (VoA), the Trump administration said. Kari Lake, a special adviser to the body that oversees the government-funded VoA, announced on X that One America News (OAN), which was sued by voting machine companies for promoting claims of election fraud, will provide 'newsfeed and video service'. 'Every day I look for ways to save American taxpayers money. Bringing in OAN as a video/news source does both,' Lake said. 'OAN is one of the few family-owned American media networks left in the United States. We are grateful for their generosity.' The news that OAN, which many see as a pro-Trump propaganda outfit, will provide content for VoA, which has traditionally been a more politically neutral news source, is a move that will spur further fears about Donald Trump's crackdown on the press. OAN, which spread conspiracy theories about the coronavirus epidemic, almost exclusively interviews Republican politicians and rightwing voices, including this week the founder of an organization that denies the existence of the climate crisis. A look at OAN's recent output gives a taste of what listeners would be in for. Dan Ball, a primetime OAN host, introduced his show last week by telling viewers: 'God help us, cackling Kamala comes out of hiding, rearing her ugly head for the first time since her devastating loss to Trump.' On Tuesday's show, Ball discussed Trump meeting with Canada's prime minister, Mark Carney, adding that the meeting comes 'as the global trade war continues – and yes we are winning'. Lake, a Republican who unsuccessfully ran for Arizona governor, serves as a special adviser to the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), VoA's parent company. Trump signed an executive order on 15 March which aimed to dismantle that agency, and VoA has not produced any content since then. As many as 1,300 VoA employees have been placed on leave. skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion VoA was founded during the second world war to combat Nazi propaganda, and became a pro-democracy voice heard by millions around the world. In April, a federal judge blocked the Trump administration's order to shutter VoA, but the ruling has been caught up in a government appeal. In March, Lake announced that VoA would no longer use news reports from the Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse. 'We should not be paying outside news organizations to tell us what the news is,' Lake said. 'With a nearly billion-dollar budget, we should be producing news ourselves.'
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
A two-tiered system: Trump calls for Tina Peters to be freed from prison
In early March, Donald Trump's Justice Department raised eyebrows with an unexpected move: The DOJ's civil division unexpectedly filed a brief in federal court, raising 'concerns' about the criminal conviction of a former Colorado clerk named Tina Peters. The effort didn't amount to much, but as NBC News reported, the president's interest in the case has apparently intensified. In a Truth Social post tonight, Trump called for former Colorado county clerk Tina Peters to be released from prison and said he was directing the Justice Department to take 'all necessary action' to help secure her release. In a bizarre online harangue, Trump rewrote recent history, claiming that Peters simply 'worked to expose and document Democrat [sic] Election Fraud.' He added, 'Tina is an innocent Political Prisoner being horribly and unjustly punished in the form of Cruel and Unusual Punishment. This is a Communist persecution by the Radical Left Democrats to cover up their Election crimes and misdeeds in 2020.' In case that weren't quite enough, the president concluded, 'I am hereby directing the Department of Justice to take all necessary action to help secure the release of this 'hostage' being held in a Colorado prison by the Democrats, for political reasons. FREE TINA PETERS, NOW!' At this point, some readers might be thinking, 'Her name sounds familiar, but I'm not quite sure who Tina Peters is.' So let's take a stroll down memory lane. Peters was a county clerk in Colorado who eagerly embraced Trump's lies and conspiracy theories about his 2020 election defeat, but that's not all she did. Peters also acted on those lies and conspiracy theories, using someone's security badge to allow a Mike Lindell associate to access county election equipment. The apparent point of the endeavor was to leak election machinery data in pursuit of a conspiratorial plot that never existed in reality. Not surprisingly, Peters was caught and indicted. She pleaded not guilty, but after she and her attorney struggled to present a compelling defense, a Colorado jury convicted Peters, finding her guilty of three counts of attempting to influence a public servant, one count of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, first-degree official misconduct, violation of duty and failing to comply with the secretary of state. Ahead of sentencing, Peters showed no remorse. A judge ultimately sentenced her to nine years behind bars. This was a state official, charged with state crimes, by state prosecutors, in a state court, with a state jury, overseen by a state judge, which necessarily means neither the president nor his Justice Department can overturn Peters' criminal conviction. But Trump apparently finds that unsatisfying; he wants to free his conspiratorial ally anyway; and he's willing to make up a series of ridiculous claims about her felonies as part of a public defense, up to and including accusing local prosecutors of overseeing 'a Communist persecution.' Time will tell what, if anything, the Justice Department can do about Peters' incarceration. For all of the hysterical and baseless Republican conspiracy theories during Joe Biden's presidency about 'weaponized' prosecutions and a 'two-tiered' justice system, Trump and his team are creating the very conditions the GOP condemned. The incumbent president — through his scandalous pardons, his intervention in cases such as Peters' and his willingness to sic prosecutors on his perceived political enemies — is going out of his way to make clear that his allies will be held to different legal standards than everyone else. The brazenness is so plainly ridiculous, the Republican administration is hardly even trying to keep up appearances — and there's every reason to believe this will get worse in the coming days, weeks, months and years. This post updates our related earlier coverage. This article was originally published on
