elections 'Facts matter': FEC chairwoman challenges Trump's voter fraud claims

Ellen Weintraub, the chairwoman of the Federal Election Commission, on Monday rebuked President Donald Trump’s repeated allegations of widespread voter fraud in the 2016 election as “damaging to our democracy” and wholly unsubstantiated.

“There is no evidence of rampant voter fraud in 2016 or really in any previous election,” Weintraub, a Democrat, told CNN.


“People have studied this. Academics have studied this. Lawyers have studied this. The government has studied this. Democrats have studied this. Republicans have studied this,” she continued. “And no one can find any evidence of rampant voter fraud either historically or particularly in the 2016 elections.”

The White House did not immediately return an email seeking a response to Weintraub's remarks.

Trump on Thursday asserted at a rally in New Hampshire that voter fraud is the reason he lost the Granite State’s four electoral votes in the previous presidential election. He told supporters at an arena in Manchester, "It was taken away from us."

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In a letter to Trump on Friday, Weintraub challenged Trump “to provide any evidence” that could back up those statements. “To put it in terms a former casino operator should understand: There comes a time when you need to lay your cards on the table or fold,” she wrote.

The president on Sunday reiterated his unfounded claims, telling reporters in New Jersey that “many, many people voted that shouldn't have been voted,” and insisting “some people voted many times.”

"Facts matter. And people of America need to be able to believe what their leaders tell them,” Weintraub said Monday.

Weintraub's comments rankled some of her colleagues. Caroline Hunter, a Republican commissioner, blasted the chairwoman, calling her criticism "another pathetic cry for attention."

"She knows as well as anyone that the use of the Commission letterhead and her official title to troll the President is not within her official duties and is not appropriate," Hunter said. "The next thing you know, she’ll be on CNN discussing trade policy with China."