On U.S. Holocaust Museum board, some members backed Trump's 'Big Lie' of stolen election
- Several trustees of the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC, propagated vote fraud myths that served as the basis for the January 6 insurrection, and some are calling for their removal.
- One trustee, whose rallies have featured Trump spreading vote fraud lies, told a reporter the violence of January 6 "was not an insurrection."
- Insider found more than 40 appointees from over a dozen federal boards who publicly embraced election fraud lies and made allusions to political violence. Read the full investigation here.
Trump's campaign to spread election fraud allegations may have failed to secure him a second term (so far). But proponents of the unsubstantiated fraud claims he championed still enjoy special appointed positions - like seats on the board overseeing the hallowed U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Overall, an Insider investigation found more than 40 proponents of the so-called "Big Lie" of 2020 voter fraud - including some whose public comments condoned, downplayed, and even encouraged political violence - on federal commissions and panels like the Holocaust Memorial board.
The museum was built in 1993 to help lead the nation commemorate the Holocaust and inspire people "to confront hatred, prevent genocide, and promote human dignity." It offers exhibitions for the public as well as research facilities and materials for academics, to teach "a powerful lesson in the fragility of freedom, the myth of progress, and the need for vigilance in preserving democratic values."
Members of the 55-seat governing board act as trustees to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. All members are appointed by the president or Congress. The positions are unpaid, and the board meets twice a year.
Several proponents of the Big Lie have seats on the board of the solemn institution:
- Andrew Giuliani. The son of Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, Andrew is a former Trump White House public liaison. In the weeks leading up to his appointment to the Council in December 2020, the lightly-credentialed 35-year-old promoted vote fraud theories on Twitter. More recently, he defended his father's repeated election lies in a video he posted to the social media platform. Andrew described the New York court's revocation of his father's law license as "unbelievable" and "unacceptable," and alleged his father "did everything by the book." Giuliani is currently making a long-shot bid for the New York governorship. Giuliani's campaign did not respond to requests for comment from the candidate.
- Richard Grenell. As Trump's former acting intelligence chief and ambassador to Germany, Grenell tweeted frequently to allege vote fraud concerns in the weeks and months following the election. At an October rally in Pennsylvania, he stood by presidential daughter and senior campaign adviser Lara Trump as she alleged a conspiracy of dead cats voting absentee for Joe Biden.
In November, the onetime spymaster flew to Nevada to announce a lawsuit to "stop counting illegal ballots" in the state. When reporters pressed for evidence, Grenell "rushed inside a waiting van" and rode away.
In response to Insider's request for comment, Grenell claimed in an email without citing evidence that "there was massive fraud in the last election" that the media failed to cover. He then falsely claimed that an Insider reporter was "rumored" to have refused to sign a company honor code promising to "always defend Israel's right to exist." There is no such honor code at Insider or at its parent company.
- Max Miller. A former Trump aide and former deputy campaign manager for Trump's 2020 campaign, Miller is now running for an Ohio congressional seat. "What happened on January 6 was not an insurrection," Miller told the Washington Times in June. Trump appeared with Miller at a campaign rally in June, and used the candidate's platform to repeat his debunked claims of a "rigged" election. "'This was the scam of the century and this was the crime of the century,' Trump told the crowd. Miller's campaign did not respond to requests for comment for the candidate.
- Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York. Rep. Zeldin objected to certifying the election results and joined a doomed GOP effort to persuade the Supreme Court to overturn the election. In March, he struggled to acknowledge Biden's legitimate victory. "Some insist everything President Trump & his supporters claim about the 2020 election is 'evidence free,' Zeldin tweeted on January 2, days before the certification vote, Trump rally, and insurrection. "That lie may be easy to rattle off, but it's still a massive, destructive lie that will haunt them on Jan 6th & far into the future."
- Rep. David Kustoff of Tennessee. Rep. Kustoff also objected to certifying the election results and also joined the effort to persuade the Supreme Court to overturn the election. He repeated unsubstantiated vote-fraud claims in his public statement explaining his choice to object to certifying election results.
"This is a total affront to the culture of the museum, which is about remembering, and preserving the historical record. But our historical memory of this election and its contested aftermath is being attacked by these election deniers. That's crazy," said Ruth Ben-Ghiat, professor of History and Italian Studies at New York University. Her latest book, "Strongmen," explores how authoritarians use propaganda, corruption, and violence to stay in power. "Having people who wilfully deny the historical record seated on the museum board is a failure of democratic ethics, and needs to be addressed."
Contacted for comment, a museum spokesperson noted that "The Museum does not appoint the members of its governing Council. Fifty-five members are appointed by the president; five by the Senate and five by the House of Representatives."