SEATTLE — As President Trump continues to falsely claim that more than 3 million people voted illegally in November’s elections, even promising a “major investigation,” Washington’s four Republican members of Congress have nothing to say on the matter.
Do Reps. Dave Reichert, Jaime Herrera Beutler, Dan Newhouse and Cathy McMorris Rodgers agree that millions of votes were cast illegally? Do they think there were illegal votes cast in their own electoral victories?
They’re not saying.
All four did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday and Wednesday.
Trump, since winning the election, has repeatedly blamed illegally cast votes as the reason he lost the nationwide popular vote by nearly 3 million votes.
He did it in the weeks after the election and did it again, according to reports, in a private meeting with congressional leaders Monday.
He has offered no evidence for his assertion, which has been widely debunked by fact-checkers.
On Tuesday, Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, said the baseless allegation of widespread voter fraud was “a longstanding belief” of the president. Spicer, much like Washington’s Republican representatives, declined to say if he shared the belief.
On Wednesday, Trump doubled down on his belief, writing on Twitter that he “will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD” and that, depending on results, “we will strengthen voting procedures.”
Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman, a Republican, said she “was eager to review any evidence President Trump has.”
“However, as I stated when he raised this issue last fall, I am confident the election system in Washington state is secure and prevents illegal voting,” Wyman said. “There is no evidence that illegal voting took place anywhere in our state during the 2016 election.”
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat representing Seattle, was not nearly so reticent as her Republican colleagues.
“Donald Trump lost the popular vote on his own,” Jayapal wrote on Twitter. “No amount of blaming others or alternate facts can change that.”
Another group that disagrees with Trump’s allegations of widespread voter fraud? His own lawyers.
In December, Trump’s lawyers wrote in a Michigan filing that there was no evidence of voter fraud.
“All available evidence suggest that the 2016 general election was not tainted by fraud or mistake.”
