'Criminal neglect': Trump official slammed for pushing 'nonsensical' new 'conspiracy theory'

20 June

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump on April 21, 2025 (Joey Sussman/Shutterstock.com)

Five months into his second presidency, Donald Trump continues to promote the repeatedly debunked conspiracy theory that the 2020 election was stolen from him. And Trump isn't alone in that regard: From MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell to FBI Director Kash Patel, many MAGA Republicans still refuse to believe that Trump was voted out of office in 2020.

In an opinion column published on June 19, MSNBC's Steve Benen tears apart a "nonsensical" new 2020-related conspiracy theory that Patel is pushing.

Patel, in a June 16 post on X, formerly Twitter, wrote, "The FBI has located documents which detail alarming allegations related to the 2020 U.S. election, including allegations of interference by the CCP. I have immediately declassified the material and turned the documents over to the Chairman Grassley for further review."

But according to Benen, the conspiracy theory Patel is promoting is divorced from reality.

"As part of the same tweet thread," Benen explains, "Patel referred the public to an article from John Solomon, another Trump ally, who reported on an unsubstantiated claim from an unidentified source about China producing driver's licenses to be used in a mail-in ballot scheme. Those inclined to take any of this seriously should probably think twice….. Rick Hasen, an election law expert…. told NBC News that while Patel's post 'might feed the MAGA base,' what he was promoting was an uncorroborated story of unknown origin 'with no evidence that anything actually happened, and certainly no evidence that any ballots were cast or illegal voters were even registered to vote using state identifications.'"

Benen adds that "conspiracy theorists on the right who hoped that this might finally confirm their baseless ideas should probably start lowering their expectations now."

"That said, this week's unfortunate developments were a timely reminder that Trump isn't the only one still embracing nonsensical ideas about his 2020 defeat nearly five years later," the MSNBC journalist writes. "The director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who presumably has actual work to do, is swimming in the same misguided waters."

Benen's column and Patel's new conspiracy theory are generating a lot of discussion on X.

Podcast host Jack Hopkins, a former Republican, tweeted, "This isn't just absurd — it's criminal neglect. Patel and Trump are flinging a baseless conspiracy about China and 2020 without a shred of evidence...all to rewrite history and sow chaos. If this isn't betrayal...what is? The FBI deserves better than this circus. #FBI #Conspiracy."

Resist Hateful GOP Policies posted, "Trump, FBI's Patel run with a weird new 2020 election conspiracy theory. The conman isn't the only one pursuing baseless ideas about his 2020 defeat: His FBI director is unfortunately doing the same thing."

Self-described "southern liberal" Anne Adams commented, "Trump, FBI's Patel run with a weird new 2020 election conspiracy theory. I huge and complete lie."

X user Pamela Dubskoy wrote, "FBI Director Kash Patel feeds 2020 election conspiracy theories with documents about unverified…. More LIES from the Trump Administration."

Steve Benen's full MSNBC column is available at this link.

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