On Wednesday, The Washington Post reported that seven Republicans who sit on the House Energy and Commerce Committee — a body that will tomorrow interrogate the leaders of Facebook, Google, and Twitter on election misinformation — promoted the "#StopTheSteal" hashtag themselves, and voted to overturn the election based on voter fraud conspiracy theories.
"Three Republican members of the committee, Reps. Markwayne Mullin (Okla.), Billy Long (Mo.) and Earl L. "Buddy" Carter (Ga.), tweeted or retweeted posts with the phrase 'Stop the Steal' in the chaotic aftermath of the 2020 presidential election," reported Cat Zakrzewski. "Stop the Steal was an online movement that researchers studying disinformation say led to the violence that overtook the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6."
"Other Republicans on the committee voiced their support for Trump's efforts to overturn the election," said the report. "Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) tweeted on Nov. 5 that he stood with Trump as 'he battles these elements that try to steal an election.' Rep. John Joyce (R-Pa.) pushed his followers to visit a Trump website to report instances they saw of alleged voter fraud. Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) tweeted on Nov. 10 that he supported Trump's efforts to 'make sure every legal vote is counted,' as Trump sought to undermine the election results after Biden was projected the winner of the election. Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.) tweeted that she backed legislation that would 'support @realDonaldTrump's effort to count every legal vote.'"
Trump was ultimately impeached over his role in inciting the riot at the Capitol by spreading these election conspiracy theories — an effort that featured several Republicans in the House and Senate crossing over to vote with Democrats in an effort that ended in narrow acquittal.
Now, even some of the pro-Trump lawyers who brought cases trying to overturn the election are admitting it was all a hoax, with Sidney Powell even defending against a defamation suit from an election systems company by saying her lies were never meant to be taken seriously.
