At 2:30 AM Eastern time on a recent Saturday, former President Donald Trump utilized his Truth Social platform to announce a significant development: the United States had joined Israel in launching attacks on Iran. Yet, it was his subsequent post, appearing just two hours later, that truly ignited controversy, seemingly suggesting a provocative link between these military actions and unsubstantiated claims of Iranian interference in the 2020 US elections.
The Unsettling Juxtaposition of War and Election Allegations
“Iran tried to interfere in 2020, 2024 elections to stop Trump, and now faces renewed war with United States,” Trump declared on Truth Social. This post directed readers to an article from “Just the News,” a pro-Trump outlet known for its conspiratorial content, which offered no concrete evidence for its assertion beyond a vague reference to Iran operating “a sophisticated election influence effort” in 2020. The White House, when pressed for comment on whether these alleged interferences factored into the decision to attack Iran, remained silent.
For years since 2020, Trump has consistently amplified numerous baseless conspiracy theories regarding the integrity of that election. His return to the White House last year saw these debunked narratives reportedly influencing administration decisions, from election office raids in Georgia’s Fulton County to legal battles over unredacted voter rolls.
Delving into the Depths of a Convoluted Conspiracy
The precise nature of the Iranian interference Trump alluded to in his Truth Social post remains ambiguous. However, Patrick Byrne, a prominent conspiracy theorist who famously urged Trump to seize voting machines post-2020, claims to WIRED that it ties into a far broader, intricate conspiracy theory involving Venezuela and China.
The Smartmatic Saga: Venezuela, China, and Iran’s Alleged Role
Like many election-related conspiracy theories, this one is labyrinthine and entirely devoid of concrete evidence. It first surfaced in the weeks following the 2020 election and has since evolved into a sprawling narrative. At its core, the theory posits that the Venezuelan government has, for decades, rigged elections globally by establishing Smartmatic, a voting software company, as a conduit for remote election manipulation. Smartmatic has vehemently denied all such allegations, successfully suing right-wing outlet Newsmax for defamation over its promotion of these theories.
Byrne himself presented this elaborate conspiracy in a 45-minute video posted to X in 2024, a presentation that quickly gained traction within the election-denial community. According to Byrne, Iran’s crucial role in this grand scheme is to obscure the financial trail. “They act as paymasters. They keep certain payments that would reveal this [operation] out of the banking system, out of the Swift system so you can’t see it,” Byrne asserted, claiming it was executed through an oil-based transfer pricing mechanism. When pressed for evidence supporting Iran’s involvement, Byrne offered no response. Indeed, none of his claims have ever been verified; most have been repeatedly debunked. Smartmatic also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Actual vs. Alleged: Documented Iranian Interference
It is important to distinguish Byrne’s unsubstantiated claims from two *documented* instances of Iranian election interference. In 2021, the Justice Department charged two Iranians for orchestrating an influence operation aimed at targeting and threatening US voters. More recently, in 2024, three Iranian hackers, reportedly working for the government, were charged with compromising the Trump campaign as part of an effort to disrupt the upcoming election. Byrne’s allegations, however, stand apart as wholly different and unverified.
The Push for an Emergency Executive Order
Byrne’s claims, while circulating in online conspiracy groups for years, have found a direct route to Trump in recent months through Peter Ticktin, a lawyer who has known Trump since their New York Military Academy days. Ticktin, who also represents prominent election denier Tina Peters, emailed Trump a 17-page draft executive order.
This controversial draft order, dismissed by legal experts, falsely asserts that a president can declare an emergency based on foreign election interference and subsequently seize control of US elections. The Washington Post recently reported Ticktin’s advocacy for the White House to adopt this order. While Trump has publicly stated he is unaware of the specific draft, he has indicated a willingness to bypass Congress and issue an order to assume control over elections. Ticktin claims to WIRED that “many people [within government] who are looking at this and who are advocating for the executive order to be signed, and it has to be one that declares an emergency,” though he declined to name individuals.
While Trump’s precise belief regarding Iran’s role in the 2020 election remains somewhat opaque, his stance on their alleged involvement in the 2024 election is notably clearer. “They tried twice,” Trump told ABC on Sunday, referring to two alleged plots to target and potentially assassinate him during the current election cycle.
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