Trump demands special prosecutor for 2020 election four years later

On Jun. 20, 2025, President Trump posted on Truth Social demanding a special prosecutor to investigate alleged 2020 election fraud, writing “The evidence is MASSIVE and OVERWHELMING.”

Courts nationwide, the Justice Department under AG William Barr in Trump’s first term, and DHS’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency found no evidence of fraud that could have altered the 2020 election outcome, calling it “the most secure election in American history.”

In Dec. 2024 on NBC’s Meet the Press, Trump said he was “not interested in that” when asked about directing the Justice Department to investigate the 2020 election—a reversal from his Jun. 2025 call.

Attorney General PBPam Bondi (2025–present) would be responsible for appointing any special prosecutor under current Justice Department rules.

On Inauguration Day 2025, Trump granted clemency to approximately 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants.

By long-standing DOJ practice, special counsels are appointed from Senate-confirmed officials, meaning most special prosecutor nominees require Senate confirmation.

Special Counsel Jack Smith’s public report concluded Trump knew there was no outcome-determinative fraud in the 2020 election and that he had lost.

In Jun. 2025, the Trump Justice Department issued a sweeping demand for 🏔️Colorado election data, signed by Civil Rights Division head Harmeet Dhillon.

Trump’s Truth Social post concluded: “This cannot be allowed to happen again in the United States of America! Let the work begin!”

Using federal prosecutors to pursue debunked election fraud claims threatens the democratic principle of the peaceful transfer of power.