House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz said Wednesday he doesn’t “see any evidence” of voter fraud, and his committee won’t investigate it.
Earlier in the day, President Donald Trump said he wanted to launch an investigation, after claiming — without evidence — between 3 to 5 million fraudulent votes had been cast in the 2016 election, costing him the popular vote. Trump could sign an executive order or presidential memorandum initiating a Justice Department-led investigation into voter fraud as early as Thursday, a senior administration official told CNN.
“I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and … even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time). Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures!” Trump wrote in two consecutive tweets Wednesday morning.
Chaffetz said Trump can use Justice Department employees to investigate the issue if he wants, but he’s not interested in launching a congressional investigation.
“On the voter fraud issue, that really happens at the county level. I don’t see any evidence,” he told reporters at the congressional Republican retreat in Philadelphia. “But the President has 100,000 people at the Department of Justice and if he wants to have an investigation, have at it. I just don’t see any evidence of it.”
“The oversight committee is not planning to do anything with it. If the President sees that, he’s got 100,000 he can task with doing that,” Chaffetz said.
Trump wants to discuss the issue with Republican lawmakers Thursday in Philadelphia and will then consider the best way to go about starting the investigation, the senior administration official told CNN.
“He wants to tell them more about why he is talking about voter fraud” before taking any action, the official said.