GOP senator calls for prosecution of election fraud allegations

“I just don’t think if you say – if you don’t go after him, knock every stone over, it’s going to linger in the future,” Braun said of the allegations of electoral irregularity. “And it’s going to be to the detriment of whoever tries to run the country.”

He added that there was a “wide gap” between “systemic fraud” and “reflex [dismissing] that maybe nothing happened at all. “

Braun’s comments follow a significant but unsuccessful effort by President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the election results. Trump, who cast doubt on the electoral process during the campaign, has repeatedly falsely claimed the election was stolen from him, citing an assortment of anecdotal evidence mixed with logical errors and broad conspiracy theories.

Braun pointed out Georgia, where Trump criticized Republican election officials and called for a special legislative session to challenge the results. Trump’s loss to Biden in the state has been confirmed by a series of accounts.

Pressed by Stephanopoulos on certifications of Biden’s victories in Arizona, Georgia and Wisconsin, the conservative senator from Indiana dug, making a distinction between a recount and “the integrity of the ballot.”

“George, recounts are one thing, and we all know they hardly ever change the outcome of an election – the integrity of the ballot, a whole other matter,” Braun said.

“And from the start, there was a dialogue about the recounts, and people certified it all,” Braun said. “That, to me, is rejecting some of the evidence, the sworn testimony, that is out there. And if you don’t bring it to its conclusion, you’re going to be unwell in the future.”

In addition to the GOP-led states that certified Biden’s victories, including Arizona and Georgia, Stephanopoulos has reported dozens of lawsuits by Trump and his allies that were dismissed, and the recent comments from Attorney General William Barr that no widespread fraud was found.

“So the process has gone, has it not? And there is no evidence of widespread fraud,” Stephanopoulos said. “Why can’t you accept the results?”

“I think it’s easy to say it’s played because it might be the most practical thing to say,” Braun said.