Trump calls for special prosecutor to investigate 2020 election, reviving longstanding grievance

WASHINGTON AP President Donald Trump on Friday called for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the balloting won by Democrat Joe Biden repeating his baseless claim that the contest was marred by widespread fraud Biden was grossly incompetent and the poll was a total FRAUD Trump declared in a social media post in which he also sought to favorably contrast his immigration enforcement approach with that of the former president The evidence is MASSIVE and OVERWHELMING A Special Prosecutor must be appointed This cannot be allowed to happen again in the United States of America Let the work begin Trump s post made as his Republican White House is consumed by a hugely substantial foreign procedures decision on whether to get directly involved in the Israel-Iran war is part of an amped-up effort by him to undermine the legitimacy of Biden s presidency Earlier this month Trump directed his administration to investigate Biden s actions as president alleging aides masked his predecessor s cognitive decline Biden has dismissed the review as a mere distraction The post also revives a long-running grievance by Trump that the electoral process was stolen even though courts around the country and a Trump attorney general from his first term unveiled no evidence of fraud that could have affected the outcome The Department of Homeland Safeguard s cybersecurity arm pronounced the electoral contest the the majority secure in American history It was unclear what Trump had in mind when he called for a special prosecutor but in the event Attorney General Pam Bondi heeds his call she may face pressure to appoint someone who has already been validated by the Senate A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment Friday The Justice Department in up-to-date years has appointed a succession of special counsels sometimes though not inevitably plucked from outside the agency to lead investigations into politically sensitive matters including into conduct by Biden and by Trump Last year Trump s personal lawyers launched an aggressive and productive challenge to the appointment of Jack Smith the special counsel assigned to investigate his efforts to undo the presidential voting and his retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach Florida A Trump-appointed judge agreed ruling that then-Attorney General Merrick Garland had exceeded his bounds by appointing a prosecutor without Senate approval and confirmation and dismissed the development That legal club included Todd Blanche who is now deputy attorney general as well as Emil Bove who is Blanche s top deputy but was lately nominated to serve as a judge on a federal appeals court