President Donald Trump told advisers he was considering appointing far-right lawyer and conspiracy theorist Sidney Powell as a special attorney to investigate allegations of fraud in the 2020 election, several news outlets reported. sale.
The president raised the idea Friday at a disputed White House meeting, according to The New York Times, which first reported the news. Several advisers, including some who have shown sympathy for the president’s unfounded claims about the election, fiercely rejected the idea, according to the newspaper.
Trump reportedly also asked about the idea of imposing martial law at the meeting. He later denied doing so in a post on Twitter.
Powell, who was reported to be present at the meeting, is the attorney for former National Security Adviser Mike Flynn, who faced charges of lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation until he received the ‘pardon of the president last month.
A conservative legal figure, Powell has created elaborate and false theories about how Trump lost to President-elect Joe Biden, including the suggestion that voting software was developed under the orders of Hugo Chávez, the Venezuelan leader who died in 2013. .
It was also reported that Flynn was at the meeting. The retired Army lieutenant general has addressed conservative media in recent days to urge Trump to impose martial law as part of an effort to overturn the results of the November contest.
On Thursday, Flynn appeared on right-wing news channel Newsmax and said Trump could “seize” the voting machines and use the military to “basically re-run elections in each of those states.”
“These people talk around here about martial law like we’ve never done it before,” Flynn said. “Martial law has been instituted 64 times.” Flynn added that he “didn’t ask for that.”
In a post posted on Twitter later Sunday, Trump wrote, “Martial Law = False News. Just More Misinformed Information!”
Senior military leaders rejected Flynn’s calls in a statement Friday.
“There is no role for the U.S. military in determining the outcome of the U.S. election,” Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy and Chief of Staff said in a statement. of Army Cabinet, James McConville.
In the oval office, Powell and Flynn pressured Trump to do more to support his efforts to nullify the election results, Politico reported, citing someone familiar with the meeting.
The New York Times reported that Trump’s advisers strongly withdrew the idea of appointing Powell as special counsel, as well as other ideas raised at the meeting.
Among those who rejected the ideas were Trump attorney and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, White House attorney Pat Cipollone and chief of staff Mark Meadows.
Cipollone told Trump there was no constitutional authority for the ideas under discussion, according to the New York Times. According to Politico, the meeting was tense and involved screams.
The White House and Powell did not return requests for comment on the meeting.
Trump has yet to grant the Nov. 3 election, despite Biden’s clear victory in both the popular vote and the legally significant constituency.
The polling station formally voted for Biden on Monday by a margin of 306 to 232. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who delayed publicly congratulating Biden on his victory for weeks, did so on Tuesday.
While Trump has continued to answer election results, last month his campaign distanced itself from the claims Powell was making. In a statement, Giuliani and Jenna Ellis, another Trump lawyer, said Powell “practiced law alone.”
Trump, however, has kept in touch with Powell, according to the New York Times. The newspaper said Trump asked about the lawyer receiving security clearances to pursue his possible investigation.
Earlier, Trump had unsuccessfully lobbied for Attorney General William Barr to appoint a special attorney to examine the election. Barr did not want to do so and said the government has found no evidence of widespread fraud. On Monday, Trump announced that Barr was resigning on Dec. 23.
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