Donald Trump was not reinstated as president on August 13th — despite the far-right conspiracy theory that he would do so.
Although President Joe Biden decisively won the 2020 election and the Constitution does not provide a mechanism to re-instate a former president, Trump reportedly bought into the conspiracy theory.
Frank Figliuzzi, the former assistant director for counterintelligence at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, warns that the conspiracy theory may result in violence.
Figliuzzi noted a DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis bulletin obtained by ABC News that warned, "Some conspiracy theories associated with reinstating former President Trump have included calls for violence if desired outcomes are not realized."
"Past circumstances have illustrated that calls for violence could expand rapidly in the public domain and may be occurring outside of publicly available channels. As such, lone offenders and small groups of individuals could mobilize to violence with little-to-no warning," the DHS memo warned.
Figluizzi offered his analysis.
"So how did we get to the point where an impossibility — the reinstatement of a president who lost a duly certified election — premised on a lie that there was unchecked election fraud has law enforcement on high alert? Well, let's start with the losing candidate himself. Trump has reportedly been telling people that he's coming back to power in August. But where did he get the idea — and why is 30 percent of the GOP falling for it?" he asked.
The potential for violence is not just limited to August, Figliuzzi noted there's a "Justice for January 6" rally to support the insurrectionists scheduled for September 18th in Washington DC.
Figluizzi noted the rally is being run by "the former director of data and strategy for the Trump campaign and peddles the idea that the hundreds of people arrested for the Jan. 6 riot are 'political prisoners.'"
Read the full analysis.
