ABSTRACT
Donald Trump’s Big Lie that the election was stolen and his “onslaught of falsehoods about the November [2020] election misled millions of Americans, undermined faith in the electoral system, sparked a deadly riot” – and by February 6, 2021, had already cost the US taxpayer $519 million and was still growing. Those costs had “mounted daily as government agencies at all levels” had
been forced to devote public funds to respond to actions taken by Trump and his supporters…The expenditures include legal fees prompted by dozens of fruitless lawsuits, enhanced security in respond to death threats against poll workers, and costly repairs needed after the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. 1
