Draft Of Trump Order To Seize Voting Machines Obtained By Jan 6 Probe

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Donald Trump set his attack lawyers all around his White House records trying to defend them against the House January 6 Committee.  But now, the Select Committee has uncovered an executive draft order to seize election equipment.

The POLITICO has seent he draft of an order that would have requested Secretary of Defense Chris Miller to “seize voting machines”. The drafted executive order was dated December 16, 2020, and paralleled Trump’s sometime attorney Sidney Powell’s suggestions. On December 18, 2020, she held a meeting with Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn, former Trump administration lawyer Emily Newman, and former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne. The conspiracy attorney tried to get the ex-president to uproot all of the voting machines and make her Special Counsel. That way, she could examine them, Axios. reported.

Between November 3 and January 6 the White House was operating in panic mode. There were conspiracy theories of fraud in Georgia and Michigan. Then, there was the conspiracy theory about Dominion voting machines, which sued both Powell and Trump’s former attorney Rudy Giuliani for $1.3 billion each.

The order had it been released allowed Trump’s Secretary of Defense to:

‘”[S]eize, collect, retain and analyze all machines, equipment, electronically stored information, and material records required for retention under” a U.S. law that relates to preservation of election records.] It also cites a lawsuit filed in 2017 against Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.’

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Then, the Secretary of Defense would have 60 days to prepare an evaluation of the 2020 presidential election. That would have kept Trump in office until at least the middle of February 2021.

The draft order gave the “go” to a Special Counsel:

‘[T]he appointment of a Special Counsel to oversee this operation and institute all criminal and civil proceedings as appropriate based on the evidence collected and provided all resources necessary to carry out her duties consistent with federal laws and the Constitution.’

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Then, the order referred to:

‘[T]he forensic report of the Antrim County, Michigan voting machines.’

The “Remarks on National Healing” document showed another supposed emotional direction:

‘I would like to begin today by addressing the heinous attack that took place yesterday at the United States Capitol. Like all Americans, I was outraged and sickened by the violence, lawlessness and mayhem. I immediately deployed the National Guard and federal law enforcement to secure the building and expel the intruders. America is, and must always be, a nation of law and order.’

Chances were that Trump’s order to call up the National Guard to go to the Capitol Building was false. The House Select Committee released a letter that read:

‘[Miller] has testified under oath that the President never contacted him at any time on January 6th, and never, at any time, issued him any order to deploy the National Guard.’

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The “national healing” document continued with sharp criticism of the attack:

‘The Demonstrators who infiltrated the Capitol have defiled the seat of American Democracy. I am directing the Department of Justice to ensure all lawbreakers are prosecuted to the fullest extent” of the law.’

Then, the order spoke directly to the insurgents:

‘We must send a message – not with mercy but with justice. To those who engaged in acts of violence and destruction, I want to be very clear: you do not represent me. You do not represent our movement. You do not represent our country. And if you broke the law, you belong in jail.’

But was that Trump’s order? It did not sound like him as he sat watching the attempted coup unfold on television:

‘We have to have peace, So go home. We love you. You’re very special. You’ve seen what happens, you see the way others are treated that are so bad and so evil…I know how you feel. But now, tempers must be cooled and calm restored.’

Trump called his attempted coup “the Protest.” He also held up Ashli Babbitt who broke into the inner sanctum of the Capitol and was shot dead. That did not sound much like this author who said in the draft:

‘But as for THIS election, Congress has now certified the results say. The election fight is over. A new administration will be inaugurated on January 20th. My focus now turns to ensuring a smooth, orderly and seamless transition of power. This moment calls for healing and reconciliation.’

References to “healing the nation” from the coronavirus pandemic were equally out of touch with the Trump reality.

No wonder it was never used. Read the full text here at another POLITICO site.


Three White Lions podcast, Gloria Christie reads a chapter from her book of the same title. She also writes for the liberal online newspaper The Bipartisan Report. Gloria Christie Report her newsletter for people on the go. Written in her own unique style with a twist of humor in a briefer version of Bipartisan Report. Christie’s Mueller Report Adventures In Bite-Sizes a real-life compelling spy mystery (in process). Find her here on Facebook.