WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump on Friday used his Truth Social platform to call for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the 2020 election, which he lost to President Joe Biden more than four years ago.
Despite dozens of legal challenges brought by Trump and his allies following the 2020 election, no widespread fraud has been uncovered that could have affected the outcome.
In his post, Trump falsely claimed he won the election “in a LANDSLIDE” and described the results as a “total FRAUD.”
“A Special Prosecutor must be appointed,” he wrote. “This cannot be allowed to happen again in the United States of America! Let the work begin!”
The Justice Department declined to comment on Trump’s latest demand.
Trump’s renewed push comes despite his earlier remarks suggesting he would not pursue investigations into the 2020 election if reelected. In a December 2024 interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press,” he told moderator Kristen Welker that he had no interest in directing the DOJ to revisit the election, despite continuing to promote false claims of fraud.
“I have the right to do that, but I’m not interested,” Trump said at the time. “You know what I’m interested in? Drilling, getting prices down, and stopping people from pouring into our border from prisons and mental institutions.”
Earlier this week, Trump echoed unfounded election claims boosted by FBI Director Kash Patel, referencing an unverified allegation from a confidential source about fake IDs being used to vote.
Trump has himself been the subject of two high-profile special counsel investigations: one led by Robert Mueller during his presidency, and another by Jack Smith under the Biden administration. Smith’s probe led to two federal indictments against Trump—one related to his handling of classified documents, and another tied to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the events of January 6, 2021.
In the classified documents case, former President Donald Trump’s legal team argued that Special Counsel Jack Smith’s appointment was unconstitutional, claiming that Congress had never formally authorized such a role. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee overseeing the case, sided with that argument and ruled Smith’s appointment “unlawful.” The Justice Department initially appealed the decision but dropped the appeal after Trump returned to office in January.
Smith’s office also ended its prosecution of Trump related to the January 6 Capitol riot following Trump’s victory in the 2024 election. In a final report, Smith wrote that Trump was aware there was no outcome-altering fraud in the 2020 election and that many of the claims he promoted were knowingly false.
Upon beginning his second term, Trump issued sweeping clemency to approximately 1,500 individuals charged or convicted in connection with the January 6 attack. Many of those pardoned had admitted to or been found guilty of assaulting law enforcement officers during the riot, and the clemency orders were signed on the day of his inauguration.
