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Wikipedia: What was Kerista?Kerista was an utopian community that was started in New York City in 1956 by John Peltz "Bro Jud" Presmont. Throughout much of its history, Kerista was centered on the ideals of polyfidelity and creation of intentional communities. Kerista underwent several incarnations that later became known as the "Old Tribe," which was associated with a fairly large, but fluid membership. What was called the "New Tribe," a period of more stable membership and ideology, began in 1971 based in the Haight Ashbury district of San Francisco.Website: Kerista.commune - The Historical RecordThere were two long sets of agreements Kerista used are included below."Utopian Social Contract of Kerista Village" from the "Kerista Village Handbook" writtten in February 1979and "Social Contract of the Gestalt-O-Rama Do-It-With-Friends Mental Health System" written in 1983"Utopian Social Contract of Kerista Village" from the "Kerista Village Handbook" writtten in February 19791. Current Intention of Lifetime Involvementwith Kerista Villagewith the Ideals of Kerista2. Orthodox PolyfidelityLifetime intention of involvement to family (B-FIC - Best Friend Identity Cluster) partnersAll primary relationships within B-FICBalanced rotational sleeping scheduleFidelity bond within B-FICMaximum of 12 people of each sex (adults) in B-FIC3. Multiple Parenting of ChildrenNon-sexist parental rolesNon-preferential car for/involvement with all children in a B-FIC on the part of adult B-FIC membersEducation and additional childcare provided by larger communityUtopian Roulette (random method of) biological fathering within B-FICs4. Transitional CelibacyNo sexual involvements for members not yet in B-FICsNo masturbation on the part of these same people5. Wholesome Sexual PracticesSex always in the context of loving mutual reciprocityNo group sexNo mock or real sado-masochistic sexuality, bondage and discipline, or other unequal or harmful roles/practicesNo bestaility, use of objectsNo pedophiliaNo incestNo voyeurismNo masturbationNo service-oriented or performance-oriented sexNo overt displays of physical affection between adults not in the same B-FIC, or in public between B-FIC membersNon-manic, non-compulsive, moderate attitude towards sex6. Monastic Order IdentityRational Pantheistic belief in DivinityDevotion to Ideals of Humor Equality, Liberation, LoveOptional relationship to deity (goddess), Sister KeristaPositive view of reality - past, present, futureMembership in Kerista Consciousness ChurchNo identity with religions, deities, other than Kerista7. EqualityNon-sexismNon-ageismNon-racismNo special privileges accorded to anyoneEqual standard of living for all8. DemocracyMajority rule on all decisions (one vote per member) with the following exceptions:Who joins the B-FIC (Conscensus within B-FIC)Who joins or is expelled from monastic order community (70% majority)Committee decisions (majority within committee sub-group)Voting rights accorded to children when they become capable of responsibly understanding matters in question9. Economic SharingVoluntary personal wealth limitationSISTER program (Surplus Income Sharing Through Egalitarian Relationships) participation by all members10. Gestalt-RamaTotal, voluntary accountability of personal thoughts, feelings, behavior, activities, financesHigh verbality levelTotal honesty to gestalt interactionDesire for truthful knowledgeNo duplicityAbility to say "NO"Good manners and sensitivityNo getting angry, no tantrums, no obnoxious behaviorAcceptance of growth and changePositive view of human nature, as expressed in Utopian Psychology11. Law of Mutual ConsentTotal reciprocity in all relationshipsGraceful distancing, dividing and regrouping, practiced wherever relationships lose their reciprocal highness and comfort12. Rational Approach to All ThingsThis includes mystical and emotional phenomenaNo acceptance of lapsing into irrational self-identity13. Good DispositionGood sense of humorConstancyCongenialityUnbugabilityFunkiness, non-affectedness14. No Inappropriate Outside Interests or RelationshipsNo unfinished, past relationships that drain psychic energy away from present identity and loyaltiesNo activities or involvements that do the same15. Non-Interference in ArtOriginal plans and intentions of project originator are respected; even a majority of people who have joined the project must start over on their own rather than interfere with these original stated plansSame respect for originatorship applies to person who opens up a space for common use (a flat, for instance)16. Minus-Zero Population GrowthLimit of one child per woman (does not apply to adopting children, nor to women bringing in more than one child born outside the community, nor to multiple births)Five year minimum waiting period for a woman after she joins community prior to conception (unless age might be a hazard)17. Visible Joyous Vocational & Artistic Involvement18. Clean Up Your Own Mess19. Non-Violence (Except in Circumstance of Self-Defense)20. IntoxicationOptional of 4 Keristan religious holidays a yearMarijuana where legal and/or alcohol21. Concern for Good Health and FitnessNo smoking tobaccoAvoidance of processed foods and food additivesAttempt to practice good eating and exercise patterns22. No Household PetsAnimals owned must serve useful function beyond companionship23. Ecological Relationship to the EarthEcological lifestyle to greatest degree place and circumstance will allowUtopian World Citizenship Card24. Mastery of Basic Bookkeeping and Money Management Skills25. Cultivation and Reinforcement of '40 Instincts' named in Utopian Psychologyart, beauty-aesthetics, creativity, cooperation, equality, freedom, friendship, fun, group living, happiness, healthy physical activity, honesty, humility, humor, idealism, learning, love, loyalty, moderation, nutrition, optimism, patience, practicality, rationality, religiousness, responsibility, self-direction, self-esteem, sensitivity, sexuality, sobriety, sociability, stability, survival, thought, trade, travel, variety in intimacy, verbality, work26. Effort to Avoid and Transcend '22 Major Inhibitors of Mental Health' named in Utopian Psychologyanger, arrogance, envy, greed, salacious lust, sloth, impatience, intolerance, ingratiating manner, wastefulness, worry, ridicule, vindictiveness, falsehood, fear, gluttony, gossip, hypocrisy, narcissism, pessimism, pride, profanitySocial Contract of the Gestalt-O-RamaDo-It-With-Friends Mental Health SystemThe social contract is a very important part of Keristan life. The complete social contract of the Keristan Islanders includes hundreds of points, many of which are understood in the oral tradition (that is, they are not written down). However, those standards which apply not only to the Islanders themselves, but also to people in the Keristan Islands Social Community … have been drawn up in written form. These are presented here…1.Conviviality - Maintaining a cheerful disposition and sociable attitude. This includes no raising one's voice in anger (or other angry outbursts), no threats, harassment or violent behavior of any kind. (See detailed list of Breaches of Conviviality)2.Social Tolerance - Understanding the idea that people of good will may have fundamental differences of opinion, which can be graciously put forth and discussed, whether or not agreement is reached. Respect for all choices of religion, lifestyle, and culture. Absence of prejudice.3.Rationality - Using reason and logic are basic approaches in all conversation, behavior, and inquiry; no acceptance of strong feelings, mystical intuition or unreasonable statements are being truth of any truth.4.The Search for Truth through the Elimination of Contradictions - Working definition of truth: a very large body of premises which do not contradict each other. Contradictions between stated beliefs and actions, between two people's different versions of the same event, or anything else are encountered and analyzed to discover the most accurate picture of reality.5.Verbality - Conversation is an art form everyone can develop (and should). Nonverbality is considered unsocial, antithetical to personal mental health development and friendship formation.6.Equality - No special privileges accorded to any member. Shared leadership, rather than one person being 'The Leader', is always used. Sophisticated approach allows appreciation of differences between individual people (differences of skills, talents, temperament, and so forth) without interfering with basic sense of equality. Emotions or behavior emanating from inferiority/superiority are encountered and contained.7.Non-Sexism - Both sexes are regarded and treated as equal in every way.8.Non-Ageism - Any adult of any age is welcome as a member and given equal respect and status. Children are encouraged to develop the sense of equality and are treated as equals wherever realistically appropriate.9.Non-Racism - People of any racial or ethnic origin are welcome as members and considered equal in every way.10.Non-Classism - Economic net worth or social background have no bearing on present relationships or equalitarian treatment of any individual.11.Participatory Democracy - Every member has one vote. Decisions are in almost every instance resolved via majority rule. Voting is considered a pleasure; losing a vote is no big deal. Issues are talked out at length prior to voting depending on their significance.12.Accountability - Members are expected to keep other members posted as to their latest thoughts, feelings, activities, financial matters, time-engineering and future plans. There is nothing that is too private to discuss; "I don't want to talk about it" is not an acceptable response to a question.13.No Duplicity - Nothing is said about a person who is not present that isn't made known to her/him; no secret opinions or malicious gossip.14.Non-Alienation - Bitterness, hatefulness, wrath, resentment, outrage, prejudice and other unintelligent attitudes toward government, institutions, parents, siblings, or other blood relatives, religions, or even one's own past are not acceptable. Criticism and rational critical analysis or evaluation, including strong negative opinions, maybe aired and discussed, but without irrational, emotionally unqualified intonations.15.Active Intentional Friendship Development - Consciously working on developing ongoing friendships, around very special interest areas, including ability to make increasingly strong social and activity commitments as gestalt-oriented realtionships deepen, beginning with the entry-level commitment to meet on some regular, responsible basis.16.Non-Interference in Art - Participants have the right to originate projects and protect the integrity of their original plan or design. The project originator has the right to maintain control over the originated project if, as and when others who have joined her/him in the project wish to turn it into a different sort of thing then she/he had in mind. This applies to originating a social activity or outing, a household space, a best-friend identity cluster (B-FIC), an art project, discussion group, theatrical activity, and so forth.17.Graceful Distancing - Any disengagement intitiated by any party from a previous involvement is expected to be graceful, i.e. without ill will or crude behavior. A member may voluntarily, for any reason whatsoever, withdraw from any association at any time. Willful violation of any standard is grounds for expulsion (from Keristan islands and Gestalt-O-Rama activities) by a majority vote of the Voting Members in good standing. Chronic, unconscious violation of a standard may also be grounds for expulsion. Thus, other Gestalt-O-Rama players are not slowed down as they attempt to work on their own human potential development.18.Identification with Lasting Liberty - Love of individual liberty and participatory democracy is a revered value shared by all the members. Indifference or antagonism towards this belief is considered being on different trip.19.Good Manners and Common Courtesy - Members take etiquette, courtesy, and good manners seriously, always trying to behave in a sensitive, considerate, and refined fashion, respecting basic principles of common courtesy in all things, such as keeping one's word, keeping appointments, returning calls, being responsible, listening while others are speaking, and generally behaving in a friendly, refined, civilized, sensitive, aware way that is not out of context.20.Clean Up Your Own Mess - Cleaning one's own dishes, living or working space, bathtub ring, and other messes created is expected of all participants.21.Dedication to Constantly Working on Oneself - Every member has her/his own neuroses and weak points to work on. There is no such thing as reaching a state of ultimate perfection or enlightenment that precludes room for improvement. Self-improvement doesn't always come automatically, but requires positive mental attitudes, intelligence, ongoing personal effort and perseverance, along with application of proven techniques.22.Cooperative Spirit - Being genuinely cooperative whenever possible. Willful non-cooperation should be acted out elsewhere. (See detailed List of Breaches of Cooperative Spirit)23.Sense of Humor/Non-Touchiness/Absence of Grimness - No matter how serious a situation might be, members strive to maintain a good, cheerful perspective, sense of humor and overall psychological equilibrium. Overreacting emotionally, tendency to panic, or carrying around a sense of morbidity (beyond normal lows in ordinary high to low mood range) is encountered as being counterproductive and neurotic. Good-humored disposition on the part of everyone is essential for participation and necessary for each party to receive the psychological and social benefits of group process.24.No Flippancy - Good humor involves knowing what is intended to be serious and what is meant in jest. Saying things as if in jest which are really meant seriously, or the inability to be serious about issues which warrant seriousness, is considered inappropriate. Playing "Devil's Advocate" is a form of flippancy. Another aspect of flippancy which isn't tolerated in the process is the disturbing and jolting tendency known as teasing or 'baiting'.25.Seeking Quality and Depth in Personal Relationships - Getting beyond blathering superficiality, mystical vagueness, small talk and the hard shell of formality wherein neurotic individuals build a wall around themselves is a goal in all social relationships between members who are participating in the Gestalt-O-Rama process.26.Intellectual Vigor - Members seek to develop and utilize their intellectual faculties to the fullest possibility. Bring thoughtful and using the mindare considered essential to mental health maintenance, good social relations, and high self-esteem.27.Economic Self-Responsibility - All adult members are expected to seek out comfortable means of using their energy to support themselves (or a gift-labor equivalent) and pay thier way, as against looking for others to support them.28.Gita Yoga - Concentrating upon one's highest ideals in order to draw energy from them that translates into activity, effort and productive work.29.Seeing Oneself as a Case Study - Members use objective awareness to view themselves as case studies who are going through constant growth and change. This includes scientifically evaluating one's past through memory regeneration exercises, videotherapy, autobiographical storytelling and continuing development as time goes by.30.Identification as a Scholar - Love of learning and study. Participating in the development of a negative-intrigue-free, supportive learning environment.31.Study of Current Events - Interest and concern regarding what's happening in the world motivate members to keep abreast of news and relevant global issues. (Seeing oneself as an informed global citizen)32.Willingness to do Public Speaking - All members are willing to talk about their feelings, about the things they are involved in, or believe in, to an audience. This includes audio and video cassette self-expression and poise development exercises.33.Keeping Up with Turns - Each individual member is responsible for trying to stay in close touch with, and understand, new theories, plans, policies, emerging ideas, events, and other developments of significance that evolve through the group process.34.Openness to Participating in Holistic Communication - All forms of communicating - face-to-face-talking, corresponding, telephone conversation, etc. - are made use of (Positive attitides towards technology and electronic communications.)35.Constant Growth and Change - Psychological stagnation is not the nature of this scene. Members are open to new ideas, expect to continuously grow and change as the years go by and learn to do so gracefully.36.Assertiveness - Clearly speaking one's mind and expressing one's true feelings on any given subject is seen as a positive value, regardless of what any other individuals in the growth process may think or feel. This means standing up for one's sense of honest communications with candor and outspokenness.37.No Ingratiating Manner - Consciously or unconsciously distorting, altering, or ignoring one's beliefs or opinions in order to appease or please another person is unacceptable.38.Ability to Say ‘No’ - Members never agree to do something they do not really want to do, but rather exercise their ability to say 'no.'39.Absence of Possessiveness and Jealousy - Human beings are not treated as propertarian objects which can be possessed or manipulated. It is considered ungracious and inappropriate to desire more of anyone's time, friendship, attention, or affection that she/he voluntarily wishes to bestow.40.Ability to Run Out the Trip - All members are capable of telling a newcomer what the lifestyle package they are involved in (including the growth process, standards, long range goals, etc.) is all about.41.Retention - It is expected that things which are discussed one day will be integrated in the mind of each person present, and retained to be remembered and understood later on.42.Adherence to the Construct of the Friendship Model - This model of friendship involves recognition of distinct, concentric 'relationship rings', each representing a different level of intimacy and involvement, as being operational in life. All relationships are thus defined and clearly articulated in terms of how and where they fit into this model, so that people do not try to act either closer or more distant to each other than they really are in objective reality. The objective of this model is to allow all individuals to build relationships in the most psychologically conducive manner, with the absence of inferiority/superiority intrigues which stem from being inappropriately close or distant. Individuals in a relationship ring which they find too intense (in which they 'over-amp' on input they receive, are uncomfortable receiving gestalt gropes, etc) move back to a less intense involvement ring. (meeting less often, for instance).43.Studying the Teachings of Kerista Consciousness and Utopian Psychology - Study of the principles, theories, and history of Kerista and Utopian Psychology as a basis for self-improvement and shared understanding.44.Study of Gestalt-O-Rama Roster of Self-Improvement Techniques - Members seek to understand all of the 130+ Gestalt-O-Rama self-improvement techniques. (See list of Gestalt-O-Rama techniques.)45.Acceptance and Application of Gestalt-O-Rama Roster of Self-Improvement Techniques - These proven techniques are regarded as being valid and useful by members, and are individually employed where appropriate.46.No Acceptance of Anything on Blind Faith - Critical analysis and evaluation are always used prior to agreeing to or accepting any proposal, idea, or theory.47.There is One and only One Objective Reality - Although the truth may not always be obvious or known, this premise is considered basic (as against the idea that there are many realities, or that people create their own realities.)48.Social Contract Consciousness - Making agreements in the form of oral and/or written social contracts, prior to beginning a cooperative or group venture of any sort, is the norm.49.No One Can Insult Me Without My Own Consent - It is the duty of the individual in Gestalt-O-Rama to express her/his opinions and feelings openly and directly. She/he is not responsible for how these will be accepted by the other person. The other person must take responsibility for her/his own reaction, including understanding that she/he has the choice to take it graciously and positively, rather than as an insult or put-down.50.Repetition is Seen as a Positive Value in the Gestalt Context - Going over ideas many times in conversation, in one's mind, or in media (seeing a video over and over, for instance) is considered an acceptable and helpful part of learning.51.No Acceptance of the Idea that there is a Demonic Force in Reality - While cruelty, oppression and other noxious human behaviors have existed historically and still do, these are considered part of evolution, the results of ignorance, faulty education, and circumstances unconducive to more refined behavior. These, and other acts of nature harmful to individual human beings, are not considered to be linked to a malevolent force.52.Clear Communications/Avoidance of Misunderstandings - A high value is placed upon precision and clarity in all interpersonal exchanges, and upon making efforts to eliminbate situation in which those involved do not understand each other through negligence, impatience, inattention, or faulty assumptions.53.Law of Mutual Consent - In every type of interpersonal interaction or relationship, mutual consent is a precondition. Any form of coercion or non-reciprocity is scrupulously avoided.54.Positive Value Placed on ‘Gropes’ in the Gestalt Context - It is understood that making 'gropes' regarding anyone's underlying motivations or psychology (expressing intuitive guesses as to what may be going on at a subconscious or minimally conscious level) is a helpful tool and technique, not to be taken as an insult or affront.55.No Impression Management - Honest representation of oneself at all times is essential. Trying to give an impression which does not reflect one's true state of mind is not acceptable.56.Acceptance of Responsibility for Consequences of One’s Speeches and Actions - What one says or does is considered in most instances a valid and literal reflection of inner beliefs and feelings. Individuals are responsible for meaning what they say and do, and must expect to take the consequences of their statements and actions.57.Reading the Literature of the Keristan Islands - Participants are expected to read the materials published by the Keristan Islanders and be prepared to discuss the ideas involved, or ask questions about things which are not clear to them.58.Individual Pursuit of the Science of Leadership - Every participant in the Gestalt-O-Rama Growth Process involves her/himself with the pursuit of the science of leadership. The principles studied can then be applied to those areas in which the individual is intellectually drawn and inspired, and artistically gifted. An understanding of the techniques of leadership and the existence of shared leadership are seen as conducive to mental health maintenance and essential for the existence of equality within the process.59.Willingness to Ask Questions - Any time a person is not following a conversation, she/he should ask questions to find out what she/he isn't getting rather than acting like she/he knows what's going on when she/he doesn't.60.Attitude of Social Responsibility - Taking the problems of humanity and the world seriously and personally to the extent of seeking to use one's energy towards their ultimate solution.61.No One Can Humiliate Me Without My Own Consent - Humiliation is an internal attitude connected to losing one's psychic equilibrium. Individuals are responsible for maintaining that equilibrium regardless of the fact that they may receive input that they don't like or agree with.62.Embracing the Concept of ‘Universal Ethic’ - Participants acknowledge the idea that there is a 'universal ethic' and agree to work on their own personal development with regards to ethical perspective.63.No Unconditional Relationships - All interpersonal relationships are based upon standards and agreements and are affected by any breaches of these conditions.64.No Proselytizing - Any belief or idea may be discussed and advocated from the point of view of its selling points, but without a preconceived desire to convert others to that point of view.65.No Willful Malevolence - Any behavior, attitudes or statements that come from unkindness or cruelty are off-limits.66.No Embracing Bizarre Ideas - Attaching oneself to a bizarre (i.e., irrational, unrealistic) idea for the sake of being unusual, or in a dogmatic, unyielding sense, is not acceptable.67.No Embracing Bizarre Humor - Any attempts to be funny (which are always encouraged) are subject to evaluation by the group mind. humor that doesn't come through as funny but is, rather, considered in poor taste should be let go of.68.No Uptightness - Acting bugged, short, mildly angry (or very angry) and/or losing one's sense of humor are considered breaches of good manners and congeniality.69.No Psychological Withdrawal - No withdrawing into a shell in which issues and feelings are stored in the head which should be aired and talked out. There should ba an active willingness at all times to raise problems and unclear issues for group mind consideration, and no avoidance of this process.70.No Willful Contrariness - Disagreeing for the sake of disagreeing (or being disagreeable) is considered unacceptable.71.Ability to Lose a Vote or Choose Gracefully - Winning all the time in votes or chooses is not the way things go in life and it's no big deal. Losing can be taken cheerfully.72.Social Charm Maintenance - Participants are expected to put out friendliness and social charm not only when in the first stages of building a relationship, but also once it has already been established and is familiar.73.Non-Salaciousness - A healthy appreciation of sex and beauty is fine, so long as it doesn't move over into causing anyone to act like a doggie with its tongue hanging out (figuratively speaking) around persons she/he finds attractive.74.No Touching Anyone Without Her/His Consent - Some people are into things like social hugging; others are not. It is considered ungracious to assume that another person is into it unless she/he indicates an openness to such gestures.75.Keeping It Together at a Party - Participants in the social community are expected to monitor themselves so as not to cross the line into over-intoxication and obnoxious behavior at parties or other social gatherings.76.Identifying One’s Very Special Interest Areas - Members are encouraged to use the technique of discerning and defining their personal areas of very special interest, as a means of becoming more productive and social.77.Non-Stodginess in the Face of Overwhelming Evidence - When a vote or opinion poll goes unanimously against the way one person is voting, she/he is expected to go along with the vote cheerfully, giving the weight of the group mind perspective due respect.78.Positive Attitude towards the ‘Toggle-Switch’ Mode of Decision-Making - Basic choices (such as agreement or non-agreement with the social contract standards) can be made in a 'yes/no' manner, rather than being vague about one's viewpoint or trying to give each item a rheostat reading ('I agree with this a little bit.' or 'I'm sometimes into that'). Once an opinion or decision is 'toggle-switched' into place, it can always be reversed given new input, but remains clear until such new input should arrive.79.Requests are Not Demands - Asking someone to do something as a suggestion or favor is never twisted into a demand, where the answer 'no' becomes grounds for the person making the request to act adversely.80.Colorful, Earthy, Explicit Language is OK - Intellectual, rational dialogue doesn't rule out the use of animated, dynamic language or conversational styles. Being very specific about personal matters such as sex or relationships is also considered in good taste, as long as whatever is said comes from good will.81.No Profanity - The use of words such as 'fuck' or 'shit' is not considered profane so long as they are used in a literal context (that is, to describe the act of sexual intercourse, or the excretory function.) Using the same words, however, as derogatory epithets or in other imprecise ways is believed to muddy up communication and lower the aesthetic standard of conversation, and therefore, is not done.82.Good Manners in the Guest-Host Context - When acting out the part of guest or host, individuals are expected to observe basic good manners (such as not tying up the phone for long periods of time while visiting someone else's space.)83.Lifestyle Resolution - Members are bound to always seek out those choices of 'lifestyle package' in which they can feel solidly comfortable. If a member is not able to stand up and defend her/his own choices and situation verbally, with conviction, or has unresolved feelings about it, she/he should be looking for ways to change the situation so as to arrive at a centered mental position.84.Participation in Important Gestalts - When an issue of significance is being discussed, all persons present are expected to make their individual views and feelings known, so that the group mind can benefit from all possible wisdom sources.

SUNDOWN, Texas (Reuters) - Brett Fryar is a middle-class Republican. A 50-year-old chiropractor in this west Texas town, he owns a small business. He has two undergraduate degrees and a master’s degree, in organic chemistry. He attends Southcrest Baptist Church in nearby Lubbock.Fryar didn’t much like Donald Trump at first, during the U.S. president’s 2016 campaign. He voted for Texas Senator Ted Cruz in the Republican primaries.Now, Fryar says he would go to war for Trump. He has joined the newly formed South Plains Patriots, a group of a few hundred members that includes a “reactionary” force of about three dozen - including Fryar and his son, Caleb - who conduct firearms training.ADVERTISEMENTNothing will convince Fryar and many others here in Sundown - including the town’s mayor, another Patriots member - that Democrat Joe Biden won the Nov. 3 presidential election fairly. They believe Trump’s stream of election-fraud allegations and say they’re preparing for the possibility of a “civil war” with the American political left."If President Trump comes out and says: 'Guys, I have irrefutable proof of fraud, the courts won't listen, and I'm now calling on Americans to take up arms,' we would go," said Fryar, wearing a button-down shirt, pressed slacks and a paisley tie during a recent interview at his office.The unshakable trust in Trump in this town of about 1,400 residents reflects a national phenomenon among many Republicans, despite the absence of evidence in a barrage of post-election lawsuits by the president and his allies. About half of Republicans polled by Reuters/Ipsos said Trump “rightfully won” the election but had it stolen from him in systemic fraud favoring Biden, according to a survey conducted between Nov. 13 and 17. Just 29% of Republicans said Biden rightfully won. Other polls since the election have reported that an even higher proportion - up to 80% - of Republicans trust Trump’s baseless fraud narrative.Trump’s legal onslaught has so far flopped, with judges quickly dismissing many cases and his lawyers dropping or withdrawing from others. None of the cases contain allegations - much less evidence - that are likely to invalidate enough votes to overturn the election, election experts say.And yet the election-theft claims are proving politically potent. All but a handful of Republican lawmakers have backed Trump’s fraud claims or stayed silent, effectively freezing the transition of power as the president refuses to concede. Trump has succeeded in sowing further public distrust in the media, which typically calls elections, and undermined citizens’ faith in the state and local election officials who underpin American http://democracy.In Reuters interviews with 50 Trump voters, all said they believed the election was rigged or in some way illegitimate. Of those, 20 said they would consider accepting Biden as their president, but only in light of proof that the election was conducted fairly. Most repeated debunked conspiracy theories espoused by Trump, Republican officials and conservative media claiming that millions of votes were dishonestly switched to Biden in key states by biased poll workers and hacked voting machines.ADVERTISEMENTMany voters interviewed by Reuters said they formed their opinions by watching emergent right-wing media outlets such as Newsmax and One American News Network that have amplified Trump’s fraud claims. Some have boycotted Fox News out of anger that the network called Biden the election winner and that some of its news anchors - in contrast to its opinion show stars - have been skeptical of Trump’s fraud allegations.“I just sent Fox News an email,” Fryar said, telling the network: “You’re the only news I’ve watched for the last six years, but I will not watch you anymore.”The widespread rejection of the election result among Republicans reflects a new and dangerous dynamic in American politics: the normalization of false and increasingly extreme conspiracy theories among tens of millions of mainstream voters, according to government scholars, analysts and some lawmakers on both sides of the political divide. The trend has deeply troubling long-term implications for American political and civic institutions, said Paul Light, a veteran political scientist at New York University (NYU)."This is dystopian," Light said. "America could fracture.”Adam Kinzinger, a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives, is among the few party members to publicly recognize Biden’s victory. He called his Republican colleagues’ reluctance to reject Trump’s conspiracies a failure of political courage that threatens to undermine American democracy for years. If citizens lose faith in election integrity, that could lead to “really bad things,” including violence and social unrest, he said in an interview.David Gergen - an adviser to four previous U.S. presidents, two Democrats and two Republicans - said Trump is trying to “kneecap” the Biden administration before it takes power, noting this is the first time a sitting American president has tried to overthrow an election result.ADVERTISEMENTIt may not be the last time. Many Republicans see attacks on election integrity as a winning issue for future campaigns - including the next presidential race, according to one Republican operative close to the Trump campaign. The party, the person said, is setting up a push for “far more stringent oversight on voting procedures in 2024,” when the party’s nominee will likely be Trump or his anointed successor.Other Republicans urged patience and faith in the government. Charlie Black, a veteran Republican strategist, does not believe Republican lawmakers will continue backing Trump’s fraud claims after Biden is inaugurated. They will need White House cooperation on basic government functions, such as appropriations and defense bills, he said."People will come to see we still have a functioning government,” Black said, and Republicans will become “resigned to Biden, and see it’s not the end of the world.”The Biden campaign declined to comment for this story. Boris Epshteyn, a strategic advisor to the Trump campaign, said: “The President and his campaign are confident that when every legal vote is counted, and every illegal vote is not, it will be determined that President Trump has won re-election to a second term.”‘THERE’S JUST NO WAY’Media outlets declared Biden the election winner on Nov. 7. As calls were finalized in battleground states, Biden’s lead in the Electoral College that decides the presidency widened to 306 to 232. (For a graphic explaining the electoral college, see: tmsnrt.rs/38VTUvK )ADVERTISEMENTMany Republican voters scoff at those results, convinced Trump was cheated. Raymond Fontaine, a hardware store owner in Oakville, Connecticut, said Biden’s vote total - the highest of any presidential candidate in history - makes no sense because the 78-year-old Democrat made relatively few campaign appearances and seemed to be in mental decline."You are going to tell me 77 million Americans voted for him? There is just no way," said Fontaine, 50.The latest popular vote total for Biden has grown to about 79 million, compared to some 73 million for Trump.Like many Trump supporters interviewed by Reuters, Fontaine was deeply suspicious of computerized voting machines. Trump and his allies have alleged, without producing evidence, a grand conspiracy to manipulate votes through the software used in many battleground states.In Grant County, West Virginia - a mountainous region where more than 88% of voters backed the president - trust in Trump runs deep. Janet Hedrick, co-owner of the Smoke Hole Caverns log cabin resort in the small town of Cabins, said she would never accept Biden as a legitimate president."There's millions and millions of Trump votes that were just thrown out,” said Hedrick, 70, a retired teacher and librarian. “That computer was throwing them out.”ADVERTISEMENTAt the Sunset Restaurant in Moorefield, West Virginia - a diner featuring omelettes, hotcakes and waitresses who remember your order - a mention of the election sparked a spirited discussion at one table. Gene See, a retired highway construction inspector, and Bob Hyson, a semi-retired insurance sales manager, said Trump had been cheated, that Biden had dementia and that Democrats planned all along to quickly replace Biden with his more liberal running mate for vice president, Kamala Harris."I think if they ever get to the bottom of it, they will find massive fraud," said another of the diners, Larry Kessel, a 67-year-old farmer.Kessel’s wife, Jane, patted him on the arm, trying to calm him, as he grew agitated while railing against anti-Trump media bias.Trump’s rage against the media has lately included rants against Fox News. He has pushed his supporters towards more right-wing outlets such as Newsmax and One America News Network, which have championed the president’s fraud claims.Rory Wells, 51, a New Jersey lawyer who attended a pro-Trump “stop the steal” election protest in Trenton last week, said he now watches Newsmax because Fox isn’t sufficiently conservative.“I like that I get to hear from Rudy Giuliani and others who are not immediately discounted as being crazy,” he said of Trump’s lead election lawyer.ADVERTISEMENTNewsmax CEO Chris Ruddy said the network’s viewership has exploded since the election, with nearly 3 million viewers nightly via cable television and streaming video devices.Ruddy said Newsmax isn’t saying that Biden stole the election - but they’re also not calling him the winner given that Trump has valid legal claims. “The same media who said Biden would win in a landslide now want to not have recounts,” he said in a phone interview.Charles Herring, president of One America News Network, said in a statement that his network has seen three weeks of record ratings, as “frustrated Fox News viewers” have tuned in.‘NO WAY IN HELL’Some Trump supporters said they would accept Biden as the winner if that is the final, official result. Janel Henritz, 36, echoed some others in saying that she believed the election included fraud, but perhaps not enough to change the outcome. Henritz, who works alongside her mother Janet Hedrick at their log cabin resort in West Virginia, said she would accept the outcome if Biden remains the winner after recounts and court challenges."Then he won fair and square," she said.ADVERTISEMENTIn Sundown, Texas, Mayor Jonathan Strickland said there’s "no way in hell" Biden won fairly. The only way he’ll believe it, he said, is if Trump himself says so.“Trump is the only one we’ve been able to trust for the last four years,” said Strickland, an oilfield production engineer. “As far as the civil war goes, I don’t think it’s off the table.”If it comes to a fight, Caleb Fryar is ready. But the 26-year-old son of Brett Fryar, the chiropractor, said he hoped Trump’s fraud allegations would instead spark a massive mobilization of Republican voters in future elections.Asked whether Trump might be duping his followers, he said it’s hard to fathom.“If I’m being manipulated by Trump ... then he is the greatest con man that ever lived in America,” Caleb Fryar said. “I think he’s the greatest patriot that ever lived.”(This story corrects to delete reference in first paragraph to Brett Fryar teaching Sunday school and bible studies at Southcrest Baptist Church. He taught those classes at another church.)ADVERTISEMENT(Reporting by Brad Brooks in Texas, Nathan Layne in West Virginia and Tim Reid in California; editing by Brian Thevenot)Incoming GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and other supporters of President Trump protest the election results outside the Georgia Capitol in Atlanta on Nov. 7. (Kevin D. Liles/for The Washington Post)Elena Parent, a Democratic state lawmaker from the Atlanta area, listened incredulously in a small hearing room in early December as a stream of witnesses spun fantastical tales of alleged election fraud before the Georgia Senate’s Judiciary Committee.A retired Army colonel claimed the state’s voting machines were controlled by Communists from Venezuela. A volunteer lawyer with President Trump’s campaign shared surveillance video that she said showed election workers in Atlanta counting “suitcases” of phony ballots that swung Georgia’s election to former vice president Joe Biden. The president’s personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, told the panel: “Every single vote should be taken away from Biden.”“Since this has been debunked repeatedly, what evidence can you give to us that counters what our elections officials presented us with only an hour ago?” Parent asked one of the witnesses, her voice rising in exasperation. When she tried to ask a follow-up question, the Republican committee chairman cut her off.AdHer questions — and the fact that the claims were misleading, unsubstantiated or just plain false — did little to keep the rumors in check. It didn’t matter that state and local election officials had explained what was in the video and conducted a hand recount to show that the machines were not rigged. It didn’t matter that multiple news outlets detailed, over and over, that there was no evidence of widespread fraud. It didn’t matter that, amid a global pandemic and massive demand for mail ballots, a system under historic strain in fact held up decisively.To preserve his hold on power, Trump has spent the weeks since Election Day promoting falsehoodsabout voting problems in Georgia and five other states, successfully persuading tens of millions of his supporters to believe a lie — that the election was stolen from him, and from them.He has done so by harnessing the power of his position, using his pulpit at the White House and his Twitter feed to let loose a fusillade of conspiracy theories. His assault on the integrity of the election has gotten a hefty assist from pro-Trump media outfits and an assortment of state lawmakers and lawyers who gave oxygen to the debunked allegations — and a majority of congressional Republicans, who called on the Supreme Court to overturn the results in four states.Control of the Senate rests in the hands of Georgia voters in the Jan. 5 runoff election that will determine two seats. (The Washington Post)Trump is continuing to press his case, even now that the electoral college has formally elected Biden. In a meeting with allies on Friday, the president discussed deploying the military to rerun the election and appointing attorney Sidney Powell, whose conspiracy theories about election fraud have been widely discredited, as a special counsel to investigate the outcome.Along the way, Trump has willfully damaged two bedrocks of American democracy that he has been going after for years: confidence in the media as a source of trusted information and faith in systems of government. It might be one of his lasting legacies.A Fox News poll released on Dec. 11shows that more than a third of registered voters believe the election was stolen from Trump — a number that rises to 77 percent among those who voted for Trump. Conversely, 56 percent of voters believe Trump weakened American democracy by contesting election results in various states, with the number rising to 85 percent among those who voted for Biden, according to the poll.Trump’s campaign spokesman, Tim Murtaugh, declined to answer specific questions about the damage the president has done or the untruths he embraced.“President Trump owes it to the 75 million Americans who voted for him — and to those who voted for Joe Biden — to ensure that the election was free, fair and secure,” he said.Even now that the electoral college has voted, and the GOP’s top leaders have publicly accepted Biden’s victory, both parties and the country overall must reckon with the mark Trump has left on American democracy. Biden will start his presidency with nearly half the country believing he is not the legitimate occupant of the White House. Many Americans who voted against Trump and have watched with horror as he has tried to subvert the results are equally disillusioned about the strength of the system, which they fear could have toppled but for the courage of a cadre of election officials, state Republicansand judges who held the line.Few anticipate that the mistrust and divisions will fade with the 45th president’s departure from the White House. One reason: The most ardent purveyors of unfounded accusations say they have no plans to back down.“The fact is that President Trump was reelected by what will be known soon to be a landslide victory unparalleled in this country,” said L. Lin Wood, a Georgia lawyer and Trump ally who has filed unsuccessful lawsuits on the president’s behalf.Wood said he spoke to the president in a phone call earlier this month, encouraging him not to concede in what he described as “a battle between good and evil.”Nathaniel Persily, a professor at Stanford Law School and co-director of the Stanford-MIT Healthy Elections Project, said that kind of rhetoric has emboldened some in the country to doubt the results merely because their preferred candidate lost.“We’re entering a very dangerous phase where a sizable share of the population has no faith in the basic mechanics of the democracy,” Persily said. Millions of voters, he added, now see the fight over who should lead the country as a function of “the willingness to exert power as opposed to playing by fair rules of the game.”A base willing to believeTrump has demonstrated a unique capacity to rally supporters to his war cries, even when they are false or unproven. He gained notoriety nearly a decade ago as the leader of the so-called birther movement, asserting falsely that then-President Barack Obama was not born in the United States.This year, Trump’s obsession with election fraud has tested his followers anew, and their willingness to go along with him has shown how powerful his hold is on the GOP.Thousands of President Trump’s supporters converged on Washington, D.C., on Nov. 14 to falsely claim he won the election. (The Washington Post)The president’s false claims about voting ramped up in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, when election officials were gearing up for a historic surge in mail balloting. He got help from a chorus of Republican allies, who echoed and amplified his untruths on the campaign trail, on conservative television and in state capitols in key battlegrounds.In the days following the election, his rhetoric defied logic as he cited more and more outlandish accusations and echoed unverified Twitter accounts. “They are finding Biden votes all over the place — in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan,” Trump tweeted on Nov. 4, suggesting falsely that ballots still being counted a day after the election were fraudulent. “So bad for our Country!”On Nov. 30, the president retweeted an account named @Catturd2 that claimed in Arizona, “Truck Loads of Ballots Kept Coming in For 10 Days After Elections Officials Thought They Were Done Counting.”Many of his increasingly outrageous accusations — blasted out to his 89 million followers on Twitter — came straight from one of his new favorite news sources, One America News.“Pennsylvania Poll Watcher: USB Drives uploaded to machines, gave Biden thousands of votes,” the president tweeted on Nov. 27.Dec. 16: “Study: Dominion Machines shifted 2-3% of Trump Votes to Biden. Far more votes than needed to sway election.”Cobb County election workers recount votes by hand in Marietta, Ga. (Kevin D. Liles/for The Washington Post)Trump and his allies also claimed to have scores of “affidavits” alleging fraud on a massive scale. But the sworn statements his campaign and his allies submitted in lawsuits contained meaningless observations, such as one complaint in Michigan that a “man of intimidating size” had followed a poll watcher too closely, and another who said that a public address system was too loud and therefore “distracting to those of us trying to concentrate.”Trump and his allies have lost overwhelmingly when they tried to overturn Biden’s victory through the courts, with at least 88 judges across the country ruling against them either on procedural grounds or on the merits in more than 50 cases. The president’s campaign on Sunday said it was filing a new petition with the Supreme Court seeking to overturn the result in Pennsylvania, challenging state voting procedures similar to those that the court has so far declined to act on.Even as his accusations havecollapsed under scrutiny, they have gained traction among his most ardent supporters.They have been spurred on by Trump-supporting cable and online news outlets such as OAN and Newsmax, which touted unfounded theories about the Dominion machines, dead people voting and poll workers in Michigan allegedly covering up windows with cardboard to prevent observers from watching the process.At a rally in Valdosta, Ga., earlier this month for two Republican senators facing a runoff election on Jan. 5, Trump paused his speech and turned to giant screens that played misleading news reports on fraud. Thousands in the crowd watched the videos, rapt.Trump supporters chant at a rally in Valdosta, Ga. in early December. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)Trump’s arguments made sense, his supporters said. They couldn’t believe that Biden fared better than Obama had in his races, and they were suspicious that Trump was ahead in some states on Election Day but fell behind as mail ballots were counted — either unaware or untrusting of news reports explaining why that was expected.“Do you truly believe that Joe Biden got more votes than Barack Obama?” asked Wendy Mick, 53, who traveled from New Jersey to a “Stop the Steal” rally in the District on Dec. 12, and said that Newsmax and OAN are her new preferred sources for political news. “He never campaigned. There’s no way that Biden got so many votes.”How the lie took holdThe relative silence of Republicans lawmakers in the initial days after the election, both in states and on Capitol Hill, quickly gave way to a flood of support for Trump’s posture.A stock line emerged among Republican leaders who refused to acknowledge Biden’s win: The president has the right to pursue all legal avenues available to him.But Trump has done more than pursue all legal avenues. He has openly cajoled his supporters to join the fight. And they did.In Maricopa County, Ariz., home of Phoenix, his supporters lashed out at local election officials, accusing them without evidence of improperly verifying signatures, switching Trump votes to Biden votes on duplicate ballots and keeping observers too far away from ballot-counting to see anything.In Wisconsin, they claimed the use of drop boxes for mail ballots was illegal. With most municipal offices closed to the public because of the pandemic, many city clerks set up secure drop boxes not just for ballots, but for other city business such as utility bills.“I had customers dropping off absentee ballots and saying, ‘How are you going to differentiate my ballot from a utility bill?’ and I thought, ‘Wow, you must really think I’m dumb that I can’t differentiate a ballot envelope from a utility bill,’ ” said Lori Stottler, the city clerk in Beloit, Wis., on the Illinois border. “But then I thought, ‘Well, they don’t know what I do.’ And I took a step back and I tried to explain.”GOP Pennsylvania House Speaker Bryan Cutler’s Facebook page was inundated with demands from constituents that he reverse Biden’s win in the state. Protesters also gathered outside his rural home in Lancaster County on Dec. 5 with bullhorns and signs.“Petition your governor for a special session!” an organizer shouted. “Why haven’t you petitioned him?”“Do your job!” the crowd chanted back. “Do your job! Do your job!”Trump supporters pray and sing outside the Capitol in Harrisburg, Pa., on Dec. 14, as the state’s electors cast their ballots for Biden. (Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post)At one point, Rep. Seth Grove, a Republican lawmaker from York County, Pa., said a conservative activist confronted him at the Capitol in Harrisburg, demanding that the legislature take action to seat Trump’s electors — even though state law does not allow such a move.Grove said he was stunned when the longtime tea party organizer proclaimed, “You know, the Constitution doesn’t limit government!”It was a reminder, Grove said, of just how much power Trump has amassed over the Republican electorate, to the point that some of his supporters are no longer guided by political principles they have claimed adherence to in the past.“I looked at him. I’m like, ‘What?’ ” Grove recalled. “It shocked me. Shocked me.”Lawmakers in Arizona and Pennsylvania rebuffed the president’s efforts to stage official hearings to examine potential fraud. But back benchers in both states assembled media spectacles in hotel ballrooms, labeling them hearings but presenting “witnesses” that were not under oath and offering no evidence for their claims.Republican lawmakers in Michigan and Georgia did hold official hearings, giving Giuliani an additional platform to unspool a series of false claims.“I know they are under a lot of pressure from their base, from the lies being spun by Trump and his enablers, right-wing media, etc., but it was really disappointing,” said Parent, the Georgia senator. “The hearing was obviously a sham that wasn’t designed to answer any questions about the election.”Republicans on the committee did not respond to requests for comment.One witness at the Michigan hearing, Mellissa Carone, gained notoriety for a stream of unfounded accusations, including one claim that she’d seen a van pull up to a Detroit vote-counting center that was meant to bring in meals for election workers but was actually filled with phony ballots. Carone had previously been deemed “simply not credible” by a state judge.Trump lashed out at those who refused to bend to his will. He called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, an “enemy of the people” for failing to embrace the president’s accusations of fraud. He accused the Michigan secretary of state, Democrat Jocelyn Benson, of “breaking the law” by rigging voting machines.Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger speaks at a news conference in Atlanta. (Kevin D. Liles/for The Washington Post)And he threatened Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, also a Republican, with a primary challenge in 2022 for not helping him reverse the outcome — even though Kemp had explained in a contentious phone call that he did not have the power to do so.Trump’s rhetoric has spurred some of his supporters to do more than merely protest.Raffensperger and his wife began receiving death threats and accepted a state security detail at their home in suburban Atlanta. Protesters trespassed at Benson’s home in Detroit, some armed with bullhorns and some with guns, ignoring neighbors’ pleas to go home because they were scaring children, including Benson’s 4-year-old son.In Houston, a former police captain was arrested Tuesday after allegedly slamming into an air-conditioning repairman’s truck to thwart what he said was a vast election-fraud scheme. The man, Mark Anthony Aguirre, was paid $250,000 by a right-wing organization to pursue fraud conspiracy theories and believed that the truck contained 750,000 fake ballots, police said.The truck, it turned out, was full of nothing but air conditioning parts.'The fraud happened'Vanishingly few national Republicans have been willing to stand up to the false statements, despite privately acknowledging that the election is over. “The future will take care of itself,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told reporters in early December, refusing to acknowledge that Biden had won.In Pennsylvania, Republican lawmakers who had initially resisted the president’s entreaties wound up signing onto an emergency petition to the Supreme Court that sought to overturn Biden’s win in the state, though they never cited fraud in their filing. They also sent a letter to Congress urging federal lawmakers to reject Pennsylvania’s electoral votes when they convene on Jan. 6.Grove, the GOP lawmaker from Pennsylvania, said he and other Republicans had assumed the letter would go nowhere. A challenge requires support from a member of both the House and Senate, but Grove and others incorrectly thought they had to be from the state in question, and they knew that Pennsylvania’s two senators, Republican Patrick J. Toomey and Democrat Robert P. Casey Jr., would not support it.“We didn’t know that anyone can do it from any state,” Grove said. “That was a surprise.”Congressional Republicans also began echoing Trump’s claims; 126 of them ultimately signed onto an emergency petition to the Supreme Court seeking to overturn results in four states Biden had won.“The fraud happened,” said Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) at a hearing last week in Washington to examine election irregularities.Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who called the hearing despite acknowledgingthat Biden had won a legitimate election following the electoral college vote, declared at the start of the proceeding: “There was fraud in this election. I don’t have any doubt about that.”That idea that something went wrong with the vote this year has now taken hold among many Americans.Anna Van Winkle, a retired aesthetician in Savannah, Ga., who voted for Trump, has accepted her candidate’s defeat, but believes lawmakers must fix the election process to make sure such broad doubt in the outcome can’t happen again.“My concern is that we don’t go down this road again,” she said. “We had a problem. We had a big problem. And now, going forward, the best way to deal with this is to fix this where somebody like me is not going to wonder, ‘Okay, was there fraud here?’”Van Winkle was perplexed when she received multiple absentee ballot request forms at her address, and worries that others willing to commit ballot fraud would have been able to do so by requesting more than one ballot. Although Georgia requires identification to request a ballot online — and signature matching on ballots themselves — Van Winkle doesn’t understand why states don’t require mail voters to get their ballots notarized.Clayton County election workers recount votes in Jonesboro, Ga. (Kevin D. Liles/for The Washington Post)Voting-right activists, meanwhile, are concerned that such sentiments will now be cited as an excuse to try to erect new barriers to casting ballots.Indeed, GOP lawmakers in Georgia have already floated a proposal to eliminate no-excuses absentee balloting, meaning only those with a qualifying reason such as illness or an overseas assignment could vote by mail. In Texas, lawmakers have filed bills to limit distribution of absentee ballot applications and make it a felony to help voters fill out ballots. Pennsylvania Republicans have discussed tighter identification requirements for mail ballots and signature matches.Defenders of this year’s elections also recognize the need to shore up public confidence. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), who advocated unsuccessfully for billions in election aid for states this year, believes Congress must act to curtail misinformation on social media companies, which she said fell short in their civic obligation to restrict false claims on their platforms.Klobuchar said she was heartened by the Republicans who immediately acknowledged Biden’s win, by those who did so after the electoral college vote and by the dozens of judges across the country, many of them Republican appointees, who roundly rejected the fraud claims of Trump and his allies.“All of those things mean our democracy is working during a really hard time,” she said.But there remains the reality that Trump and millions of his supporters still refuse to accept Biden’s win, creating a disturbing precedent, Klobuchar said, in a political system that has prided itself on the peaceful transfer of power and acknowledgment of election results.“I’m concerned about our democracy in the long run if these civil mores change,” she said, “so people don’t even have to tell the truth about who won.”Emma Brown, Robert Barnes, Emily Guskin, Rosalind S. Helderman, Elise Viebeck and Rachel Weiner contributed to this report.