After President Donald Trump called for a special prosecutor to look into the 2020 election, MAGA is foaming at the mouth. Everyone from Trump admin officials like Kari Lake to right-wing conspiracy theorist Dinesh D’Souza chimed in to loudly endorse Trump’s suggestion that he appoint someone to probe false claims of fraud in the 2020 election. Here’s the thing: This isn’t just about relitigating 2020: It’s about sowing the seeds of doubt in elections in an effort to rig them in 2026 and after. 

As always, thanks for reading. 

— Matt Cohen, Senior Reporter

MAGA and Election Conspiracy Theorists Cheer Trump’s Call for Prosecutor to Probe 2020 Election

Last week, President Donald Trump called for a special prosecutor to probe false claims of fraud in the 2020 election. MAGA world, unsurprisingly, is foaming at the mouth.  

It started June 16, when FBI Director Kash Patel said on X that the bureau recently shared “alarming” allegations about China’s role in manipulating the outcome of the 2020 election with Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee.

A few days later, Trump posted on TruthSocial that former President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory was a “total fraud,” and that “the evidence is massive and overwhelming.” 

“A Special Prosecutor must be appointed,” Trump wrote. “This cannot be allowed to happen again in the United States of America! Let the work begin!”

Kari Lake, the former Arizona gubernatorial candidate and conspiracy theorist who serves as a senior White House advisor overseeing Voice of America, welcomed Trump’s call for a federal probe.

“This is the most important issue of our time,” Lake wrote. “We need a Special Prosecutor ASAP and they need to start in their [sic] investigation in Arizona.” 

Rep. Abe Hamedeh (R-Ariz.), another Arizona politician with a long history of promoting election conspiracies, posted Trump’s TruthSocial message on X and said: “Election Security is NATIONAL Security!”

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Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) wrote on X that, “the FBI declassified documents exposing a CCP plot to influence the 2020 election with fake ballots. Now Trump wants to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate this corruption. THIS is the accountability the American people want to see!”

Tom Fitton, the president of the anti-voting legal group Judicial Watch, posted on X that Trump “can directly appoint a special prosecutor who reports directly to him."

Trump may be looking backwards to 2020, but his call for a special prosecutor seems equally aimed at undermining future elections.  

It’s likely to fuel the GOP’s efforts to implement more voting roadblocks ahead of the 2026 election. The Republican National Committee stepped in to defend Trump’s sweeping anti-voting order in the courts, while Senate Republicans are currently exploring every option to pass the SAVE Act, which could disenfranchise millions of voters. Meanwhile Republicans on the state level are trying to pass their own anti-voting bills in time for the 2026 midterms — in some cases using 2020 election conspiracy theories to fan the flames of support for these bills. 

Trump’s call for a special prosecutor and his false claims about cheating in 2020 also could help further, and provide a rationale for, his administration’s broad effort to use law enforcement to target his political opponents.

The documents Patel mentioned are related to a fringe right-wing conspiracy theory about a Chinese scheme to mass-produce fake driver’s licenses for mail-in voting fraud. News that Patel had turned over the documents to Grassley was first reported by right-wing pundit John Solomon, who was a key figure in promoting conspiracy theories during Trump’s first impeachment trial.

It’s a conspiracy that has long been promoted by fringe groups, including the anti-voting group True The Vote.

“We knew the truth would eventually come to light,” True The Vote founder Catherine Englelbrecht said in a press release related to the Patel news. “We’ve taken the arrows, endured the smears, and stood firm.”

Other right-wing conspiracy theorists endorsed Trump’s call for a special prosecutor.

“It’s about time! ELECTION FRAUD,” said Sidney Powell, a former attorney for Trump’s 2020 campaign who was indicted, along with 18 others, for her role in trying to subvert the election results in Georgia.

"Trump is calling for a thorough investigation of the 2020 election and how Joe Biden got millions of votes that magically appeared for Democrats that year and have not been seen before or since,” said commentator Dinesh D'Souza, who made the widely debunked film 2,000 Mules, and later apologized for the “inaccurate information” it presented. “A special prosecutor seems like a great idea."

And the X account for Lindell TV — the TV network started by MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, who just lost a $2.3 million defamation lawsuit related to, you guessed it, 2020 election conspiracies — also echoed Trump’s call for a special prosecutor. 

“President Trump is once again drawing attention to the irregularities, media censorship, and ballot concerns that dominated the 2020 race - this time with renewed urgency and a direct call for action,” the account said. “The demand for accountability has never been louder.”

Seth Keshel, a former Army intelligence captain-turned-election conspiracy promoter chimed in on his blog about Trump’s threat to appoint a special prosecutor. 

“If you’re reading this journal, you know there are more skeletons attached to the 2020 election than you can find in any graveyard,” he said. “I wrote recently about my belief that the administration is deadly serious about getting to the bottom of the election crisis in America. I did not, however, have knowledge that the prospect of a special prosecutor would come out a few weeks later.”

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Keshel, as I recently wrote in this newsletter, claims to have visited the White House in May, where he said he gave a presentation on election integrity and the 2020 election “to one of President Trump’s most critical staff members and his own key staff — someone who undoubtedly interfaces with the President daily.”

Kelly Loeffler, the administrator of the Small Business Administration, was asked about Patel’s claims while appearing on YouTuber Benny Johnson’s show last week.

“How do any of these policies matter if our elections are rigged?” Loeffler replied. “So we have to get back to the facts on this and thanks to President Trump’s leadership, we will do that. We will hold people accountable.”

The U.S. Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the documents that Patel provided to Grassley. 

Joyce White Vance, a former federal prosecutor, noted on BlueSky that “the DOJ doesn’t turn over evidence to Congress if they have a viable investigation in the works.”

There’s been exhaustive audits and research into the 2020 election, which has not turned up any evidence of the systemic, far-reaching voter fraud that Trump and many of his supporters falsely claim.