A new report from CNN reveals recent interest from the federal investigative team led by Special Counsel Jack Smith in a December 2020 meeting at the White House that featured a coterie of the then-president’s most conspiracy theory-inclined associates, including Sidney Powell and Michael Flynn.
Among the considered courses of action that came up around that time was making Powell a special counsel. Also under discussion was the absurd prospect of federal seizures of equipment that had been used in the then-recent 2020 elections, something for which then-White House lawyer Pat Cipollone insisted there’d be no basic precedent in an eventual discussion with the House committee that investigated January 6. Presumably at issue for Smith and his team are any specific plans that were formulated to target and upend the results of the 2020 presidential election, efforts that included but were not limited to the sham slates of electors assembled in swing states that Trump had lost.
And what about the potential manipulation of federal resources? At the Justice Department, Trump considered putting Jeffrey Clark in charge, a then-official whose pet ideas included promoting the prospect to Georgia officials of essentially rejecting the election results from their state as the numbers stood.
Rudy Giuliani, the longtime ally to Trump, recently appeared — across two days in a row — for questioning by Smith’s team, though his interview was voluntary in nature. Giuliani was questioned about the December 2020 gathering, among other topics. It was around that very point that Trump posted an encouragement online for supporters of his to gather in Washington, D.C., on January 6, saying the day’s happenings would be “wild.” “Prosecutors have specifically inquired about three outside Trump advisers who participated in the meeting: former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, one-time national security adviser Michael Flynn and former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne, sources said,” per CNN. Read more at this link.
