Trump says he will ask for major investigation of voter fraud

President Donald Trump tweeted Wednesday that he would ask for a “major investigation” into voter fraud, after telling lawmakers that 3 million to 5 million “illegal” voters had cost him the popular vote. Multiple organizations have found no evidence to back up this claim.

“Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures!” he wrote.

But the examples of voter fraud Trump listed pertained specifically to registration — those registered to vote twice, those registered to vote illegally, or those registered to vote even though they are deceased — and not to actual voter fraud.

Nor have any state election organizations found any evidence of widespread fraud. No fraud was found by a coalition of journalism organizations monitoring the election and PolitiFact gave Trump a “pants on fire” rating for claims of rigging that he alleged took place on Nov. 8.

Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted also weighed in on Twitter shortly after Trump’s early morning pronouncement, saying the state — which Trump won — was conducting a 2016 election review and had also done so in 2012.

“Easy to vote, hard to cheat,” he wrote.

Trump has said repeatedly since the election that undocumented voters were responsible for tipping the popular vote against him, which he lost by nearly 3 million votes to Hillary Clinton.

This story was originally published January 25, 2017 at 9:24 AM with the headline "Trump says he will ask for major investigation of voter fraud."