Issue Brief No. 1:
2020 and the Seeds of Insurrection: Trump’s Year Long Campaign to Undermine The Legitimacy of the Election Before the First Votes Were Even Cast
Washington, DC – The Defend Democracy Project today released the first in a series of issue briefs ahead of the January 6 Committee hearings next month detailing how Donald Trump and his MAGA Republican allies engaged in a criminal conspiracy, incited violence, and spread lies to cast doubt on the election before a single vote was cast. The Defend Democracy Project was launched this year to work with leading organizations, noted experts and critical validators to make sure the MAGA-led plot to overturn elections can’t go forward under the cover of darkness.
Issue Brief No 1. released today entitled “2020 and the Seeds of Insurrection: Trump’s Year Long Campaign to Undermine The Legitimacy of the Election Before the First Votes Were Even Cast” details Donald Trump’s early and deliberate actions to undermine the results of the November 2020 election. The evidence already in the public domain shows Trump and his allies knowingly took steps to undercut the will of the voters in 2020 with a plot set in motion well before election day. The January 6th Select Committee is expected to build on this already robust evidence of a criminal conspiracy to overturn the legitimate results of an election which Donald Trump lost.
As included in this research, among the actions Trump took in 2020 to undermine confidence in the election and set in motion the criminal conspiracy to overturn it were:
-
Waging a war against mail in voting including the groundless accusation of voter fraud.
-
Blocking Covid relief funds for the Postal Service to make mail-in voting more difficult if not impossible.
-
Filing frivolous lawsuits in key swing states ahead of the election challenging legitimate election practices like mail in voting.
-
Raising the prospect of violence if the election didn’t go his way including calling on The Proud Boys militia to “Stand Back and Stand By.”
-
Falsely claiming voter fraud and declaring victory while the votes were still being counted.
The Defend Democracy Project has one objective: that American voters determine the outcome of elections. Refusing to accept their 2020 election losses, Trump and his allies spread lies and cheered on a violent attack on our country to try to overturn the results of the election. Today, the same people are hard at work laying the groundwork to override our votes in future elections so they can put themselves in power. The Defend Democracy Project works with leading organizations, noted experts and critical validators to make sure this plot to overturn elections can’t go forward under the cover of darkness.
