It also adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting Trump knew the fraud claims he was making were false, as the House January 6 Committee’s investigation found he was also repeatedly told by aides and family members there was no evidence to back up his allegations. The Berkeley report is in line with a slew of other audits and analyses that have come out after the election showing there was no widespread fraud and affirming President Joe Biden’s win. Trump and his campaign repeatedly claimed there was widespread fraud in the 2020 election as a justification to overturn the results, an effort that overwhelmingly failed as courts threw out dozens of cases challenging the results and efforts to pressure state officials into altering the results failed. The “privileged and confidential” report states its client was the Trump campaign, however, the Post reports. The Trump campaign seemingly took pains to conceal it commissioned the report from Berkeley, according to the Post, as the report was formally commissioned by a Trump-associated law firm and conducted by a subsidiary of Berkeley, East Bay Advisory. Evidence that the Trump campaign commissioned data showing there was no widespread election fraud could be useful to investigators as further proof that Trump knew the fraud claims he was making were false but pushed them anyway, including by trying to stop Congress from certifying the vote count on January 6.

The House January 6 Committee referred several potential criminal charges against Trump to the DOJ, including obstructing an official proceeding and conspiracy to defraud, though the agency can ultimately bring any charges they want or decide against bringing any. It’s still unclear how far along the DOJ is in its investigation of January 6 and Trump’s post-election efforts, or when charges could be brought, if any are. DOJ investigators probing the January 6 riot and Trump’s efforts to overturn the election have obtained a copy of the report, according to the Post, with a person who’s been subpoenaed in the investigation telling the Post that investigators are asking for “all evidence that would disprove, or substantiate, fraud claims” and are focused on what Trump and his allies were told about election fraud in the days leading up to January 6.

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