Trump’s Big Lie Exposed in PA Election Memo

HARRISBURG — A scathing legal indictment of former President Donald Trump’s election lies landed on the Senate’s doorstep today, as Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro delivered a hard-hitting memorandum exposing the falsehoods that fueled the January 6 insurrection. The document, filed as part of Trump’s impeachment trial proceedings, methodically dismantles the baseless claims Trump pushed about Pennsylvania’s 2020 election — claims that ignited a mob attack on American democracy.

“Pennsylvania bore the brunt of President Trump’s crusade to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 election,” Shapiro declared in the memo, which lays bare how Trump weaponized conspiracy theories to undermine public trust. For months, Trump and his allies repeated fabrications about ballot dumps, dead voters, and illegal votes — none of which were supported by evidence. Despite dozens of court challenges, including multiple lawsuits filed in Pennsylvania state and federal courts, every claim was rejected — often by Republican-appointed or Trump-nominated judges.

The memo zeroes in on Trump’s incendiary speech on January 6, where he falsely claimed Pennsylvania had 205,000 more ballots than voters, that “thousands” of deceased individuals cast ballots, that over 14,000 out-of-state residents voted illegally, and that absentee ballot requests surged by 400,000 without justification. Each claim, according to Shapiro’s office, was categorically false — debunked by election officials, auditors, and courts long before the Capitol was stormed.

Shapiro detailed how the Trump campaign’s legal strategy was not about justice, but about laundering lies through the courts. Frivolous lawsuits were filed, repackaged, and resubmitted after being rejected — a deliberate effort to create the illusion of wrongdoing. Judges from both parties dismissed the cases, some with sharp rebukes, including Trump-appointed jurists who found no credible evidence of fraud.

“The events of January 6 were shocking and unprecedented. But they were not wholly unexpected,” Shapiro wrote, emphasizing that election officials across Pennsylvania had been on high alert since Election Day due to the relentless spread of disinformation. The memo warns that allowing such lies to go unchallenged risks eroding faith in every future election, inviting more chaos and violence.

With the Senate weighing conviction and disqualification from future office, Shapiro’s filing stands as a factual rebuttal to Trump’s narrative — a no-nonsense account of how lies, repeated loud enough and often enough, can lead to real-world violence. “It is hoped,” the memo concludes, “that this information will set the record straight… and help the Senate better understand the facts surrounding President Trump’s campaign of lies and why he must be held accountable.”