People

Alex Jones

Media & Propagandists

Alex Jones used his Infowars platform to amplify false claims of election fraud to millions of followers. He promoted the 'Stop the Steal' movement and was present at the January 6 rally preceding the Capitol attack. Jones had previously been ordered to pay nearly $1.5 billion in damages for spreading false conspiracy theories about the Sandy Hook school shooting, establishing a pattern of promoting dangerous disinformation.

Bill Barr

Government Officials

Bill Barr served as Trump's Attorney General and was widely seen as a loyalist. However, in December 2020, Barr publicly stated that the DOJ had "not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election." This directly contradicted Trump's claims and led to Barr's resignation. His statement was significant because it came from within Trump's own administration, undermining the narrative of a stolen election.

Brad Raffensperger

Election Officials

Brad Raffensperger, Georgia's Republican Secretary of State, oversaw the 2020 election in Georgia including three recounts that confirmed Biden's victory. In a January 2, 2021 phone call, Trump pressured Raffensperger to "find 11,780 votes" — one more than Biden's margin. Raffensperger refused, telling Trump his claims were wrong, and later released the recording. The call became key evidence in Trump's Georgia indictment. Raffensperger received death threats for upholding the election results.

Donald Trump

Politicians & Elected Officials

Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden by over 7 million popular votes and 74 Electoral College votes. Despite this, Trump refused to concede and launched an unprecedented campaign to overturn the results, promoting false claims of widespread voter fraud. His own Attorney General, Bill Barr, stated the DOJ found no evidence of fraud sufficient to change the outcome. Trump was indicted by Special Counsel Jack Smith for his efforts to overturn the election and by Fulton County DA Fani Willis in a RICO case related to the fake electors scheme.

Fani Willis

Prosecutors & Investigators

Fani Willis, the District Attorney of Fulton County, Georgia, brought a sweeping RICO case against Trump and 18 co-defendants for their efforts to overturn Georgia's 2020 election results. The case encompassed the Raffensperger phone call, the fake electors scheme, harassment of election workers, and efforts to access voting machines. Several defendants pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate, including Sidney Powell, Kenneth Chesebro, and Jenna Ellis.

Jack Smith was appointed Special Counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Smith's office secured a four-count indictment against Trump for conspiracy to defraud the United States, obstruction, and conspiracy against the right to vote. The indictment laid out a detailed scheme involving fake electors, pressure on state officials, and the events of January 6. Smith resigned after Trump won the 2024 election, citing DOJ policy against prosecuting a sitting president.

Jeffrey Clark

Government Officials

Jeffrey Clark was a DOJ official who drafted a letter to Georgia officials falsely claiming the DOJ had identified "significant concerns" about the election — a letter his superiors refused to send. Clark attempted to get Trump to appoint him as Acting Attorney General so he could send the letter, a scheme that was only stopped when DOJ leadership threatened mass resignations. He was indicted in the Fulton County RICO case.

Jenna Ellis

Lawyers & Legal Architects

Jenna Ellis served as a senior legal advisor on Trump's post-election legal team. She publicly promoted false claims about the election on television and social media. Ellis pleaded guilty to a reduced charge in the Fulton County RICO case and tearfully admitted in court that she "failed in her duties as a lawyer" and relied on claims from other attorneys without independently verifying them. She was censured by the Colorado bar.

John Eastman

Lawyers & Legal Architects

John Eastman authored a legal memo arguing that Vice President Mike Pence had the authority to reject certified Electoral College votes on January 6 — a theory rejected by virtually all constitutional scholars and by Pence himself. Eastman was disbarred in California for his role in attempting to overturn the election. He was indicted in both the federal case and the Fulton County RICO case.

John Poulos is the CEO of Dominion Voting Systems, whose company became the target of debunked conspiracy theories claiming its machines were designed to flip votes from Trump to Biden. Under Poulos's leadership, Dominion filed multiple defamation lawsuits against those who spread false claims, including Fox News (settled for $787.5 million), Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, and Mike Lindell. Every audit and investigation confirmed Dominion machines functioned properly.

Kari Lake

Politicians & Elected Officials

Kari Lake ran for Arizona Governor in 2022 on a platform centered on claims that the 2020 election was stolen. After losing her own race, she refused to concede and filed multiple lawsuits challenging the results — all of which were dismissed. Lake's claims about Maricopa County's election procedures were rejected by Arizona courts. She continued to promote election fraud conspiracies despite lacking evidence.

Kenneth Chesebro was the legal architect of the fake electors scheme, which involved creating slates of fraudulent electors in states Biden won and submitting them to Congress and the National Archives as if they were legitimate. Chesebro pleaded guilty in the Fulton County RICO case. The scheme was a key component of the broader effort to overturn the election results on January 6.

Lin Wood, a previously prominent defamation attorney, filed a series of increasingly outlandish lawsuits challenging election results in Georgia and other states, all of which were dismissed. He promoted conspiracy theories linking voting machine companies to Venezuela and China. Wood was investigated by the State Bar of Georgia and subject to a competency evaluation. His own former law partners described his claims as baseless.

Liz Cheney

Politicians & Elected Officials

Liz Cheney, a conservative Republican congresswoman from Wyoming, served as Vice Chair of the January 6 Committee. She was one of ten House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump for inciting the January 6 attack. Cheney became the committee's most prominent voice, stating that Trump's actions constituted a 'clear and present danger' to democracy. She lost her 2022 primary to a Trump-backed challenger, but remained committed to holding Trump accountable.

Mark Meadows

Government Officials

Mark Meadows served as White House Chief of Staff during Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election. He participated in the phone call pressuring Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "find 11,780 votes." Meadows was indicted in the Fulton County RICO case and reached a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Jack Smith. Text messages revealed his involvement in coordinating efforts to challenge election results across multiple states.

Michael Flynn

Co-conspirators & Promoters

Michael Flynn, Trump's former National Security Advisor who had previously pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI (and was pardoned), publicly advocated for Trump to declare martial law and use the military to "rerun" the election in swing states. He promoted QAnon conspiracy theories and appeared at rallies promoting the lie that the election was stolen. No credible evidence supported any of the claims he promoted.

Mike Lindell

Co-conspirators & Promoters

Mike Lindell, CEO of MyPillow, became one of the most prolific promoters of debunked conspiracy theories about voting machines. He claimed to have "proof" that Chinese hackers switched votes via Dominion machines — evidence that cybersecurity experts unanimously dismissed as fabricated. Lindell spent millions of his own money promoting these claims and was sued by Dominion Voting Systems for defamation. He offered a $5 million reward to anyone who could disprove his data; a cybersecurity expert won the challenge but Lindell refused to pay.

Mike Pence

Politicians & Elected Officials

Vice President Mike Pence was pressured by Trump and John Eastman to reject certified Electoral College votes during the January 6 congressional certification. Pence consulted with constitutional scholars and former Vice President Dan Quayle, concluding he had no authority to reject electors. He certified the results despite threats from the Capitol mob, some of whom chanted "Hang Mike Pence." Pence later stated that Trump was "wrong" to claim he had the power to overturn the election.

Patrick Byrne, former CEO of Overstock.com, funded and participated in efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. He attended a contentious December 2020 White House meeting where participants discussed seizing voting machines and appointing Sidney Powell as a special counsel to investigate fraud. He provided financial backing to various election fraud investigation efforts, none of which produced evidence of widespread fraud.

Peter Navarro

Government Officials

Peter Navarro, a White House trade advisor with no election expertise, authored three reports he called "The Navarro Report" claiming to document election fraud. The reports were widely debunked by election experts as a collection of previously disproven claims, statistical errors, and misrepresentations. Navarro was convicted of contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a January 6 Committee subpoena and served a four-month prison sentence.

Ruby Freeman was a temporary election worker in Fulton County, Georgia, who was falsely accused by Trump, Giuliani, and others of pulling "suitcases" of fraudulent ballots from under a table during vote counting. Multiple investigations, including by the GBI, confirmed the "suitcases" were standard ballot containers and the counting was legitimate. Freeman and her daughter Shaye Moss received death threats and harassment. Giuliani was found liable for defaming them and ordered to pay $148 million.

Rudy Giuliani

Lawyers & Legal Architects

Rudy Giuliani served as Trump's lead attorney in challenging the 2020 election results. He promoted debunked conspiracy theories about Dominion Voting Systems and other baseless fraud claims, including the infamous Four Seasons Total Landscaping press conference. Giuliani was disbarred in New York and Washington D.C. for making false statements about the election. He was found liable for defaming Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss and ordered to pay $148 million in damages.

Shaye Moss, a Fulton County election worker and daughter of Ruby Freeman, was targeted alongside her mother by false accusations of election fraud. Her emotional testimony before the January 6 Committee detailed the death threats, racist harassment, and life-altering fear she experienced after being publicly named by Trump and Giuliani. Moss's testimony was considered some of the most powerful of the committee's hearings, putting a human face on the consequences of election disinformation.

Sidney Powell filed a series of lawsuits she called "Release the Kraken," claiming Dominion Voting Systems machines were rigged using Venezuelan software to flip votes. Every lawsuit was dismissed for lack of evidence. Powell was sanctioned by a federal judge for filing frivolous lawsuits. She pleaded guilty to reduced charges in the Fulton County, Georgia RICO case related to the fake electors scheme.

Steve Bannon

Co-conspirators & Promoters

Steve Bannon, Trump's former chief strategist, ran a podcast "War Room" that served as a central hub for promoting election fraud conspiracy theories. He was convicted of contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena from the January 6 Committee. Before the election, Bannon predicted on tape that Trump would declare victory prematurely regardless of results, which is exactly what happened.