Source-by-Source Fact Check
Every link that was shared, examined against verified evidence
Who he actually is: A former assistant professor of business law (not election law, not political science, not computer science) at New Mexico State University. He was fired in October 2021 for refusing to comply with COVID-19 safety requirements — not for exposing anything.
He is not a neutral expert. NPR tracked him speaking at over 60 events in 25+ states since January 6, 2021. The Washington Post described him as a "self-appointed election fraud evangelist" who spreads claims that have been "often debunked." (NPR Investigation)
His claims fall apart under examination. When he cited a University of New Mexico study as proving fraud, the study's actual author, political scientist Lonna Atkeson, responded: "There's no evidence of fraud from that report." He misrepresented her work. (Source New Mexico Fact-Check)
His own audit found nothing. He pushed for and secured a forensic audit in Otero County, New Mexico. The result? No election fraud was detected. The county's own elected Republican clerk said his evidence was "misinterpreted or inaccurate." (Source New Mexico Analysis)
He lost his own election. Before becoming a fraud evangelist, Clements ran for U.S. Senate in 2014 and lost — then blamed his opponent's campaign manager for allegedly hacking his email. This is a pattern. (Wikipedia)
He has called for firing squads. At a New Mexico church in February 2022, he said: "We've got enough evidence to have indictments, people tried for treason and have the remedy of firing squads." This is not the language of a researcher. This is the language of a demagogue. (Washington Post)
His claim about "legal standing" is a distortion. He argues courts refused to hear election fraud cases. In reality, 30+ cases were dismissed after hearings on the merits — meaning judges examined the evidence and found it insufficient. Among those judges? Ones appointed by Trump himself.
Who he actually is: A real attorney — but not an election law specialist. He's best known as Alex Jones's defense lawyer in the Sandy Hook defamation cases, where pre-trial default judgments were entered against Jones for spreading conspiracy theories about murdered children.
Even Barnes contradicts the "stolen election" narrative. In a detailed interview, Barnes himself acknowledged: "There was no mass, coordinated election fraud as QAnon claimed." His own position undermines the very argument he's being cited to support. (Policy Punchline Interview)
He blamed Trump's own lawyers for bungling the cases. Barnes described how Sidney Powell "resorted to conspiracy theories rather than evidence," which "ended up distracting the legitimate effort" to contest the election.
His argument is not what it appears. Barnes argues some cases deserved more thorough hearings — a much weaker claim than "the election was stolen." Courts did hear the substantive claims in dozens of cases and rejected them all for insufficient evidence.
The Dominion conspiracy is the most thoroughly debunked claim in modern American politics. Here's what actually happened:
Fox News settled with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million — the largest media defamation settlement in U.S. history — because a judge ruled that every claim Fox broadcast about Dominion rigging the election was false.
Fox's own fact-checkers debunked it internally. Fox's "Brain Room" — its research division — investigated the Dominion claims and concluded they were false. Fox executives broadcast the conspiracy theories anyway to win back viewers. (NBC News)
Fox hosts privately called it "bullshit." Internal communications revealed during the lawsuit showed that Fox hosts and executives did not believe the Dominion fraud claims but aired them anyway. Tucker Carlson texted: "I hate him passionately" about Trump. A Fox Corp VP called the fraud claims "MIND BLOWINGLY NUTS." (PBS News)
The judge's ruling was unambiguous. Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis ruled that none of the disputed statements Fox made about Dominion were true. This wasn't a split decision. It was absolute. (Case Overview)
Smartmatic is suing Fox for $2.7 billion more. A separate voting technology company is pursuing an additional defamation lawsuit against Fox for the same false claims. As of late 2025, this case is proceeding toward trial.
Who he actually is: Former CEO of Overstock.com who resigned in 2019 after admitting to a romantic relationship with accused Russian agent Maria Butina. He has since become one of the most prolific promoters of election conspiracy theories.
He admits he committed to the "stolen election" narrative three months before the election even happened. As Dominion's lawsuit filing notes, Byrne had already decided the election would be fraudulent before a single vote was cast. (Wikipedia)
He snuck into the White House uninvited. Byrne admitted he entered the White House "without any invitation" and described the plan as using Sidney Powell and Michael Flynn's fame to "bullshit our way past" security to get to Trump.
He hired private jets for Proud Boys members to fly to Washington DC to strategize about overturning the election.
He also spreads medical disinformation. Byrne has claimed COVID-19 vaccines were "poisoning Americans" or "putting miniature Covid-19 spike protein factories in our arms to wreak havoc with ovaries and balls." Both claims are medically false.
His documentary was made by an alien conspiracy filmmaker. "The Deep Rig" was directed by Roger R. Richards, whose previous work promoted the theory that the September 11 attacks were caused by extraterrestrial aliens.
Dominion is suing him for $1.7 billion for defamation over his false claims about their voting machines.
He charges followers $5/month to view his social media posts about "insider knowledge" — potentially generating over $1 million annually in subscription fees from his fraud claims.
The "audit" narrative has been tested by actual audits — and they confirmed the election results.
The most prominent audit — Maricopa County, Arizona — actually found Biden gained votes. The "Cyber Ninjas" audit, partly funded by Byrne, was supposed to prove Trump won Arizona. Instead, it confirmed Biden's victory and found he had more votes than originally counted.
Clements' Otero County audit found nothing. As documented above, the audit he pushed for detected no fraud.
Recounts in Georgia, Wisconsin, and other states confirmed the results. Georgia conducted a full hand recount — every ballot, by hand — and confirmed Biden's win.
This website presents itself as a neutral election integrity resource but functions as an advocacy site promoting election denial content. It is not affiliated with any recognized nonpartisan election oversight organization — not the Brennan Center, not the Election Assistance Commission, not any state election board.
Compare this to actual nonpartisan election integrity organizations like the Brennan Center for Justice, the American Bar Association, or the Election Integrity Center — all of which found no evidence of widespread fraud.
These are Clements' own websites promoting his own fraud claims — the same claims debunked above. Citing someone's personal website as evidence for their own claims is circular reasoning. It's like citing a defendant's blog as proof of their innocence.
A former colleague and head of the New Mexico Libertarian Party said of Clements: "Given his intelligence and accomplishments, the fact that he's decided to pursue this provably false theory is tragic and surprising."
