Though the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice have tracked down and arrested more than 725 people in connection with the Jan. 6 insurrection a year ago, some Southeastern Idaho lawmakers still question the veracity of the deadly attack.

President Joe Biden on Thursday forcefully condemned Donald Trump’s election “big lie” that sparked the deadly breach of the Capitol by his supporters and continues to motivate deep national division. He marked the anniversary of the insurrection by declaring he will stand and fight for “the soul of America.”

Biden’s criticism was blistering of the “defeated president” who he blamed for the attack that has fundamentally changed Congress and raised global concerns about the future of American democracy.

“For the first time in our history, a president not just lost an election, he tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power as a violent mob breached the Capitol,” Biden said. “But they failed.”

Locally, some state lawmakers still aim to downplay the events at the Capitol a year ago, with some such as Rep. Chad Christensen, R-Ammon, holding strong to the belief that somehow the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.

“It’s not just a belief, I’ve seen evidence of it,” Christensen said when asked whether or not he believes the 2020 election was stolen. “I personally know an Idaho lawyer and his brother who were assigned to Wisconsin on Trump’s team and they found 200,000 fraudulent votes in Wisconsin alone, which would have overturned the state’s election results. I don’t just believe things, when I say and do things it’s based on research and finding facts.”

Christensen declined to label or characterize those involved with the insurrection on Jan. 6, other than to say there were many who were there for a peaceful protest who didn’t believe Trump losing the election was right.

“There were some that went too far and shouldn’t have done the things that they did, but mostly I think this whole situation has been blown out of proportion,” Christensen said. “There were some that went overboard and did commit some crimes, but to be called domestic terrorists is just not right. I don’t think what has been put out there in the mainstream media is accurate at all.”

Rep. Randy Armstrong, R-Inkom, said he was uncertain in his belief of the “big lie,” stating there are still so many outstanding questions that have gone unanswered. Nonetheless, Armstrong said he is not one pounding the table for people to not support Biden, adding that until anything changes “he is our guy.”

Armstrong said he, too, believes the events of Jan. 6 have been sensationalized somewhat, though he acknowledged the historical event did actually happen.

“It’s obviously true because a few people stormed the Capitol, but I think it was a group of hillbillies that had no planning or organization,” Armstrong said. “It was just people that were upset with the election. I think we have had 1,000 times worse problems in the U.S. that we have had to deal with and they just keep bringing this up as a big deal when it is actually just nothing.”

When asked what he thinks about some comparing Trump’s “big lie” to Hitler’s original definition of the “big lie” in his manifesto, Mein Kampf and the ways he used it to blame Jews for all of Germany’s woes, Armstrong said, “I don’t even think outlandish even begins to explain the situation.”

“It’s ridiculous to think that 20 or 30 hillbillies could overthrow the government,” Armstrong said. “It doesn’t make any sense to me, but maybe I am too naive. If there was a conspiracy, wouldn’t there have been a lot more people involved?”

Sen. Jim Guthrie, R-Inkom, disagrees in part with his Republican counterparts, particularly the opinion of Christensen that the election was surely stolen.

“The short answer is no,” Guthrie said when asked if he believes the 2020 election was stolen. “I don’t know how you could orchestrate a nationwide manipulation of the ballots on that level. It would be extremely hard to accept that nobody would come forward and blow the whistle on that. If it were one state, maybe, but I have no idea how you would orchestrate something on that scale. That being said, I am not dismissing the notion that we can’t make improvements to our election system to make it more safe and secure.”

Moreover, Guthrie explained that while many have worked to mischaracterize the events on Jan. 6, to him the event was surely an insurrection.

“The Capitol is a symbol of everything we believe in as a free nation of American citizens,” Guthrie said. “When that attack took place, regardless of how you characterize these individuals, that was an insurrection. When I watch the videos from that day I am angry, mostly because it reached that level.”

Guthrie went on to explain that what happened at the Capitol a year ago was just another chapter in a transitional period for U.S. politics in which disrespect has run rampant.

“It’s sad that we have lost faith in the political process,” Guthrie said. “It used to be that people who did not vote for a president that won still respected that individual. We need to return to having some level of respect and civility for the political structure that we have, otherwise we are going to continue to get into trouble.”

Rep. James Ruchti, D-Pocatello, said he believes there are two separate sects of people who should hold blame for an angry mob of Donald Trump’s supporters, armed with everything from pipes and flagpoles to chemical sprays, smashing their way through police lines and into the ornate halls and chambers of the U.S. Capitol.

“I think they fall into two camps,” Ruchti said. “The first is the group of people who organized an attempt to overthrow the government — Proud Boys, Three Percenters, Oath Keepers, Trump administration officials and members of Congress who were participating in the effort. Then you have people who were caught up in it and those are the people that are being prosecuted all over the United States.”

Ruchti continued, “They are the ones who got caught up in the mob-mentality, but they still bear responsibility for their part in this. Actions have consequences.”

Most concerning to Ruchti, however, are the statements from Armstrong and others who minimize the deadly event.

“My biggest concern is that Jan. 6 is being normalized by too many people in the country,” Ruchti said. “We are a democracy on the precipice of disaster.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.