Donald Trump was repeatedly told by top Republican officials and allies, including people he often relied on for candid advice, that his claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election were bogus. He simply chose to disregard the truth, according to Tuesday’s federal indictment of the former president.
The latest indictment, Trump’s third one to date, lays out numerous instances when GOP allies at the highest levels of federal and state governments called him out for spreading lies. They ranged from Vice President Mike Pence to Arizona Republican House Speaker Russell Bowers to Trump’s own 2020 campaign manager, Bill Stepien.
Here’s a look at all the Republicans cited in the indictment as people who told Trump, either publicly or privately, that he was peddling misinformation. None were listed by name; they were listed by the titles they had in late 2020 and early 2021. HuffPost identified as many as we could by name.
And of course, the “Defendant” is Trump.
Former Vice President Mike Pence
“The Defendant’s Vice President—who personally stood to gain by remaining in office as part of the Defendant’s ticket and whom the Defendant asked to study fraud allegations—told the Defendant that he had seen no evidence of outcome-determinative fraud.”
Former Director Of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe
“The Director of National Intelligence—the Defendant’s principal advisor on intelligence matters related to national security—disabused the Defendant of the notion that the Intelligence Community’s findings regarding foreign interference would change the outcome of the election.”
Former Director Of The Cybersecurity And Infrastructure Security Agency Chris Krebs
“The Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (“CISA”)—whose existence the Defendant signed into law to protect the nation’s cybersecurity infrastructure from attack—joined an official multi-agency statement that there was no evidence any voting system had been compromised and that declared the 2020 election ‘the most secure in American history.’ Days later, after the CISA Director—whom the Defendant had appointed—announced publicly that election security experts were in agreement that claims of computer-based election fraud were unsubstantiated, the Defendant fired him.”
Former Attorney General William Barr
“The senior leaders of the Justice Department—appointed by the Defendant and responsible for investigating credible allegations of election crimes—told the Defendant on multiple occasions that various allegations of fraud were unsupported.”
Georgia Secretary Of State Brad Raffensperger
“The Defendant insinuated that more than ten thousand dead voters had voted in Georgia. Just four days earlier, Georgia’s Secretary of State had explained to the Defendant that this was false.”
Former Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen
“The Defendant asserted that there had been 205,000 more votes than voters in Pennsylvania. The Defendant’s Acting Attorney General and Acting Deputy Attorney General had explained to him that this was false.
“The Defendant asserted that voting machines in various contested states had switched votes from the Defendant to Biden. The Defendant’s Attorney General, Acting Attorney General, and Acting Deputy Attorney General all had explained to him that this was false, and numerous recounts and audits had confirmed the accuracy of voting machines.”
Former Michigan Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey And House Speaker Lee Chatfield
“The Defendant said that there had been a suspicious vote dump in Detroit, Michigan. The Defendant’s Attorney General had explained to the Defendant that this was false, and the Defendant’s allies in the Michigan state legislature— the Speaker of the House of Representatives and Majority Leader of the Senate—had publicly announced that there was no evidence of substantial fraud in the state.”
Former Nevada Secretary Of State Barbara Cegavske
“The Defendant claimed that there had been tens of thousands of double votes and other fraud in Nevada. The Nevada Secretary of State had previously rebutted the Defendant’s fraud claims by publicly posting a ‘Facts vs. Myths’ document explaining that Nevada judges had reviewed and rejected them, and the Nevada Supreme Court had rendered a decision denying such claims.”
Former Arizona House Speaker Russell “Rusty” Bowers
“The Defendant said that more than 30,000 non-citizens had voted in Arizona…. The Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives, who had supported the Defendant in the election, had issued a public statement that there was no evidence of substantial fraud in Arizona.”
Trump’s 2020 Campaign Manager Bill Stepien
“Senior staffers on the Defendant’s 2020 re-election campaign (‘Defendant’s Campaign’ or ‘Campaign’)—whose sole mission was the Defendants re-election—told the Defendant on November 7, 2020, that he had only a five to ten percent chance of prevailing in the election, and that success was contingent on the Defendant winning ongoing vote counts or litigation in Arizona, Georgia, and Wisconsin. Within a week of that assessment, the Defendant lost in Arizona—meaning he had lost the election.”
“The Defendant said that more than 30,000 non-citizens had voted in Arizona. The Defendant’s own Campaign Manager had explained to him that such claims were false.”
You can read Tuesday’s full indictment here.