Capitol Insider | Sherrod Brown said that Donald Trump tried to cheat in the election. Is he right? – News – The Columbus Dispatch

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose retaliated to the senator, saying the claim involved sinister and deliberate efforts by the Trump administration to work with Russia while it mingled. The Dispatch public affairs team provides context for the dispute.

Before we go too far in the rearview mirror, let's quickly check to see if the rhetoric of Senator Sherrod Brown took precedence over the facts when he criticized President Donald Trump for "trying to cheat" in the elections. 2020?

Conclusion: The Ohio Democrat's February 25 declaration went too far.

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican, is at the heart of the problem in a Facebook article:

"By claiming that the president is" trying to cheat "to win the election, Senator Brown mistakenly suggests that the president's campaign is intentionally a sinister effort to manipulate the election administration."

After initial reports said that US intelligence officials believed the Russian agents were trying to help re-elect Trump (as well as helping Senator Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primaries), some follow-up stories have more generally characterized the current Russian interference.

Intelligence agencies had unanimously concluded that Russia had attempted to influence the 2016 elections in favor of Trump, the Senate intelligence committee controlled by the GOP found.

But, so far, nothing factual has emerged to suggest that Trump is an active, if not voluntary, participant in the Russians' efforts in 2020.

This is how this claim evolved: During Brown's weekly conference call with reporters, Rick Rouan of the Dispatch asked about the letter sent by the Ohioan and two other senators asking the Trump administration to Impose sanctions on Russia for the 2020 interference.

In his response, Brown referred to Trump, saying, "It is clear that the Russians were involved in 2016 on behalf of this president. Clearly the President has done something that Richard Nixon has never done, is to try to solicit a bribe from the Ukrainians to help him in his campaign. . It is clear that the president's relationship with Putin is, is – let's just say unfortunate – is questionable for whatever reason.

"And we already know, according to intelligence reports, that the president is trying to cheat in 2020, that the Russians are again trying to help the president."

Rouan disputed Brown's claim of cheating, noting that there were no reports from intelligence officials claiming that Trump was actually coordinating with the Russians.

The senator replied, "I think the evidence continues to point in that direction. What does "work with" mean?

“He encourages them. He says things. He defends them. He criticizes his own intelligence officials. It seems to me to work with them, by most measures. "

Brown could also have cited Trump's open solicitation from Russia to find Hillary Clinton's emails in 2016, and his expressed wish last year to see Ukraine and China plunge into The family of rival Democrat Joe Biden's family.

But Brown himself cited "evidence", not established evidence or fact. It may be a fine line for some, but "cheating" is defined as "acting dishonestly or unjustly in order to gain an advantage".

As many fact checkers have established in recent years, Trump's relationship with the truth is often sketchy. But on this particular claim, Brown doesn't have the goods.

As Ohio's chief electoral officer, LaRose is particularly sensitive to allegations regarding the way elections are conducted, also calling on his Republican colleagues. So, his main problem with Brown's claim is that it could be interpreted as an assertion that Trump is trying to play the voting system.

LaRose went on to say: "Vague statements about fraud, as well as allegations of attempts to" cheat "or" steal an election, "are never acceptable without hard evidence. Thousands of dedicated Ohioans work every election season to ensure the sanctity of every vote – and reversing their commitment to scoring political points is a step too far. "

In context, this doesn't seem to be the intention of Brown, who was Secretary of State in the 1980s, which means LaRose may have gone too far.

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