Attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election

After Joe Biden won the 2020 United States presidential election, then-President Donald Trump did not accept his defeat and claimed the election was rigged and had voter fraud. This was an effort to overturn the election, with support and assistance from his campaign, proxies, political allies, and many of his supporters. Many unsuccessful lawsuits were filed to change the election results in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Wisconsin and Michigan. Efforts to change the election results caused the 2021 United States Capitol attack, which was widely described as an attempted coup d'etat.
False claims
Trump and his allies called the election a "big lie" based on false claims and conspiracy theories claiming that the election was stolen by rigged voting machines, electoral fraud and an international communist conspiracy. Trump, The Proud Boys and QAnon spread fake information on social media saying the election was rigged and stolen.
These allegations were not proven and were tossed out by many state and federal judges, election officials, governors, and government agencies. On December 1, 2020, U.S. Attorney General William Barr said U.S. attorneys and FBI agents had investigated complaints and allegations of fraud, but found none of significance. Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said no evidence had been found of other countries trying to hack the election. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Chris Krebs called the election "the most secure in American history", which caused Trump to fire him. Trump attorney Joseph diGenova wanted Krebs to be executed.
Response
Many elected Republicans, including members of Congress and governors, did not want to say that Biden won the election fairly. Many of Trump's supporters would protest the election results by chanting "Stop the Steal". Emily Murphy, the administrator of the General Services Administration, delayed the start of the presidential transition until sixteen days after most media outlets had called Biden the winner. Former Trump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn wanted Trump to suspend the United States Constitution, force martial law, silence the press, and hold a new election under military supervision.
Attempts
A small group of Trump supporters, including Trump's chief of staff, Mark Meadows and several Republican lawmakers from the House Freedom Caucus, tried to keep Trump in power. They wanted state legislatures to force a Trump win and change the electoral vote certification at the Capitol for favor Trump. Trump and his allies wanted state officials to throw out legally cast ballots, challenge vote-certification processes, and overturn certified election results. In an early January 2021 phone call, he wanted the Georgia secretary of state to "find" the 11,780 votes needed to win his victory in the state. He also wanted Georgia Governor Brian Kemp to create a special session of the legislature to overturn Biden's certified victory in the state. He wanted the Pennsylvania state government to do the same. Trump asked 300 Republican state legislators to look for ways to reverse the election results in their states.
Lawsuits
Trump wanted Justice Department leaders to challenge the election results and publicly state the election was corrupt. His legal team wanted a path to bring a case before the United States Supreme Court, but none of the 63 lawsuits they filed were successful. Many of these lawyers hoped that the Texas v. Pennsylvania would work, but on December 11, 2020, the Supreme Court said they would not hear that case.
Possible military action
After the failure of Texas, Trump thought about a military intervention, taking voting machines and another appeal to the Supreme Court, as well as challenging the congressional counting of the electoral votes on January 6, 2021.
Electoral college certification
By December 30, 2020, many Republican members of the House and Senate said they would try to force both chambers to debate whether to certify the Electoral College results. Mike Pence, who as vice president would be in charge over the proceedings. He supported this by saying on January 4, "I promise you, come this Wednesday, we will have our day in Congress." Trump and some supporters promoted a false "Pence card" theory that, even if Congress were to certify the results, the vice president would have the power to reject them.
On the day of the electoral certification, supporters of Trump, attacked the United States Capitol to try to overturn the election, with some calling it an attempted coup d'etat. One week later, Trump was impeached a second time for incitement of insurrection but was acquitted by the Senate. Depending on the findings of the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack, which is expected to release its report in 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice may decide to investigate whether Trump committed a crime.
Aftermath
After the vote certification, some Republicans changed their opinion to say Biden won the election. However, some continued to support Trump's claims. , Trump has publicly continued to insist that the election was stolen. Although Trump has said he lost the election to a group of historians in , saying, "We had a deal all set [until the election was lost and] the deal went away." Trump supporters continue attempts to overturn the results, pushing for state legislature resolutions and new lawsuits.
References
2020 United States presidential election
2021 United States Capitol attack
Donald Trump