Senators clash as panel hears discredited claims of election fraud

The top Republican and Democratic lawmakers on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee clashed with each other Wednesday, trading accusations of lying and spreading disinformation, as the panel held a hearing on “election irregularities” in the 2020 presidential race.

The hearing was called by Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and included President Donald Trump’s campaign lawyers, former special counsel Ken Starr, a commissioner from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, and Christopher Krebs, the top U.S. cybersecurity official who was fired by Trump for asserting that the election was secure.

The hearing came days after the Electoral College confirmed that Joe Biden won with 306 votes to Trump’s 232.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., this week congratulated Biden on his victory and rejected Trump’s claims about fraud and attempts to get Congress involved in overturning the outcome.

The Trump campaign has lost as many as 60 court cases challenging the results in Georgia, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Nevada, but Republicans led by Johnson and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., insisted that the cases were thrown out on procedural grounds and not on their merits.

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