White House chief of staff Mark Meadows dismissed FBI Director Chris Wray's testimony that the U.S. has never historically seen evidence of widespread voter fraud, including by mail, during an appearance on "CBS This Morning" on Friday.
Why it matters: Meadows' statement highlights the Trump administration's strategy to sow doubt in November's election results by challenging the legitimacy of mail-in ballots, which are expected to skew heavily in Democrats' favor.
What he's saying: "With all due respect to Director Wray, he has a hard time finding emails in his own FBI," Meadows said.
- "This is a very different case. The rules are being changed, and so what I'm suggesting is perhaps [Wray] ... in North Carolina and other places where multiple ballots, duplicate ballots, are being sent out, perhaps he needs to get involved on the ground and then he would change his testimony on Capitol Hill."
The big picture: President Trump has repeatedly baselessly claimed that increased mail-in voting during the coronavirus pandemic will lead to widespread voter fraud, while providing no evidence to support his assertions. He declined this week to commit to a peaceful transition of power over the issue.
- Wray did tell the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Thursday that the FBI had seen local election fraud "from time to time" and that the agency takes election threats seriously, which he said includes potential threats through mailed ballots.