Trump says Liz Cheney deleted evidence of Jan. 6 troops. There isn’t any.

“Why did American Disaster Liz Cheney … ILLEGALLY DELETE & DESTROY most of the evidence, and related items, from the January 6th Committee of Political Thugs and Misfits. THIS ACT OF EXTREME SABOTAGE MAKES IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR MY LAWYERS TO PROPERLY PREPARE FOR, AND PRESENT, A PROPER DEFENSE OF THEIR CLIENT, ME. All of the information on Crazy Nancy Pelosi turning down 10,000 soldiers that I offered to to [sic] guard the Capitol Building, and beyond, is gone.”
—Former president Donald Trump, in a social media post, Jan. 1

There’s a recurring pattern to Trump’s spreading of false information. First, he repeats a false claim endlessly, no matter how often it is debunked. Then, he elevates it every so often with a dusting of new information, usually a falsehood derived from a modicum of fact.

This New Year’s post on Trump’s Truth Social platform is a good example of the tactic.

Regular readers know we’ve shown, time and again, that Trump and his allies have simply invented the claim that he requested 10,000 troops before the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, twisting an offhand comment into a supposed order to the Pentagon. A Colorado judge recently considered testimony on this point and dismissed a Trump aide’s account as “incredible.”

More From The Washington Post (subscription required):