Conspiracy theories paint fraudulent reality of Jan. 6 riot

By DAVID KLEPPER
Associated Press

The events from last Jan. 6 in Washington unfolded on live television and they’ve been the subject of congressional hearings and criminal proceedings since then. Yet hoaxes and conspiracy theories about what happened that day continue to circulate on cable news shows and social media. Falsehoods have excused former President Donald Trump of responsibility for the Capitol insurrection. They’ve minimized the mob’s violence. And they’ve cast the rioters as martyrs. And those falsehoods have muddied the public’s understanding of what happened that day in the nation’s capital and are helping to sustain Trump’s baseless claims of fraud in the free and fair election he lost in 2020.