Trump's own Cabinet department says "there is no evidence" of election fraud

Ever since former Vice President Joe Biden was declared the president-elect last week, President Trump has doubled down on falsely delegitimizing the election process and, thus, the results. But on Thursday, his own Department of Homeland Security said the 2020 election was actually "the most secure in American history," poking holes in all of Trump's claims.

In the months preceding the election, Trump railed against mail-in voting to set the ground for contesting the results if he lost. Just two days ahead before Election Day, he went so far as to say it's a "terrible thing" that valid mail-in ballots would be counted in battleground states like Pennsylvania. And as anyone could predict, when Trump first sensed the election wasn't going in his favor, he and his supporters tried to get states to "stop the count" of mail-in ballots.

But while Trump cries fraud — without any evidence — and his campaign files numerous lawsuits to challenge his loss, the Department of Homeland Security's Election Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council and the Election Infrastructure Sector Coordinating Executive Committees said in a statement that "the Nov. 3 election was the most secure in American history. ... There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised."

"While we know there are many unfounded claims and opportunities for misinformation about the process of our elections, we can assure you we have the utmost confidence in the security and integrity of our elections, and you should too," the committees added. "When you have questions, turn to elections officials as trusted voices as they administer elections."

DHS's statement really shouldn't be treated as anything remarkable — especially not as additional reports continue to disprove Trump and his campaign's claims. For example, his campaign's evidence of supposed fraud in Michigan is really just a bunch of personal complaints from poll volunteers that have nothing to do with potential fraud. And yet, DHS refusing to entertain Trump's shenanigans is sadly going against the norm.

The Trump administration has largely refused to recognize Biden's victory. Instead, top Republicans and Trump appointees are fully denying reality. Earlier this week, Attorney General Bill Barr gave U.S. attorneys the go-ahead to investigate nonexistent voter fraud, while Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that there would be a "smooth transition to a second Trump administration."

It is possible that those responsible for the DHS statement will face retaliation from Trump and the White House, as Axios pointed out. After all, the head of DHS's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency told associates that he expects to be fired for debunking election misinformation shared by Trump online. Meanwhile, just try to follow the logic of Trump's latest tweet on the matter.