DOJ probes bizarre and thoroughly debunked conspiracy pushed by right-wing lawyer

Federal investigators are looking into thoroughly debunked conspiracy theories about President Donald Trump's election loss that were infamously pushed by right-wing lawyer Sidney Powell, who pleaded guilty to six counts of conspiring to interfere with that election.

The attorney later defended herself from defamation allegations by arguing "reasonable people would not accept" her claims about Venezuela stealing the election, but two other conspiracy theorists have presented similar unfounded claims to W. Stephen Muldrow, the U.S. atrorney for the district of Puerto Rico, and been interviewed by a federal task force in Florida, four sources told The Guardian.

"The story starts with two unique characters who claim to have been pursuing the election claims for years: Gary Berntsen and Martin Rodil," the publication reported. "They have become sources for the Trump camp and ultimately for investigators and have promoted two major allegations about Venezuela, as the reporters Seth Hettena and Jonathan Larsen have written on Substack."

The pair claims the Tren de Aragua street gang is closely linked to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and they've also promoted the conspiracy theory that Venezuela helped rig elections around the world, including Trump's 2020 loss to Joe Biden.

“I don’t dabble in conspiracy theories,” Berntsen told The Guardian. “I spent my life defending our country and constitution. I led many major operations and investigations and saved many lives. The Department of Justice and FBI and key White House Staff are investigating and coordinating efforts to defend our system and charge those guilty of Stealing Elections and violating other laws accountable for their actions.”

The Department of Justice is joining the president's efforts to recast his election loss while also potentially justifying the administration's case for military action against the Latin American country, but the conspiracy theory has been disproven more than once in court.

"A judge in Delaware ruled it false in 2023, and Fox News, Newsmax, and OAN later paid a total of hundreds of millions in total damages in defamation claims," The Guardian reported. "At heart, the theory was that Smartmatic, which had the contract for electronic voting machines in Los Angeles, and Dominion, which ran voting in many other parts of the country, had been created or influenced by Venezuela to fix elections."

"With a military buildup in the Caribbean and increased sabre-rattling from the Trump administration towards Maduro, the unfounded election-rigging theories could provide another rationale for military action against Maduro," the report added.

Sources told The Guardian that Berntsen and Rodil have been feeding information about the voting claims to Muldrow and an organized crime task force called Panama Express, or Panex, which is based out of Tampa.

Muldrow, who is described as a staunch Republican and Trump supporter, was appointed by the president in 2019 and stayed in office through Biden's term, and he's one of the few U.S. attorneys to stay on the job when Trump returned to the White House.

One source who knows him said he enjoys a good working relationship with Attorney General Pam Bondi, who was Florida attorney general when Muldrow worked in the Tampa U.S. attorney’s office.

Sources say Muldrow turned over information to the Panex task force, which they said was working directly with Rodil and Berntsen, but the U.S. attorney declined to answer specific questions about the investigation.

“In accordance with Department of Justice policies," Muldrow said, "I am not able to provide you with a comment.”