To the editor:

According to the Washington Post Fact Checker, Donald Trump “made 30,573 false or misleading claims as president. Nearly half came in his final year” (footnote 1). But it wasn’t until the bitter end of his regime that he busted out the granddaddy of all tall tales with the claim that he actually won the 2020 election, but that it was stolen from him because of voter fraud — despite the fact that there isn’t a shred of objective evidence to support his claim.

The truth is Trump’s claims of election fraud were rejected by the courts because his legal team never alleged fraud. Lawyers have a professional ethics obligation “not to abuse legal procedure” by filing “frivolous” claims. Violating this requirement could expose the lawyer to sanctions from the state bar, which could range from a reprimand to a fine to a license suspension (2).

Hence, Trump’s legal team didn’t allege fraud because they knew there wasn’t any evidence to substantiate his claim. They knew he was lying, and so do representatives of the Republican Party, such as Elise Stefanik, who has often supported Trump’s bogus claim (3). Nevertheless, Trump’s supporters refuse to acknowledge the truth because they won’t allow themselves to be confused by the facts. That’s his story, and they’re sticking with it.

Walter Wouk

Summit