Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the effort to keep the former president in office continues to progress, according to a new Wall Street Journal report
The Justice Department has already indicted Donald Trump on charges related to his handling of classified documents after leaving the White House. It could soon indict him on charges related to his efforts to stay in the White House despite losing the 2020 election. The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that Special Counsel Jack Smith is now focusing on the former president’s post-election legal team.
Smith has reportedly issued subpoenas to conspiracy theorist Sidney Powell; Emily Newman, a lawyer who worked with Powell; and Mike Roman, an operative working with Trump’s campaign who sent lawyers to swing states ahead of the 2020 election. Prosecutors have also been asking witnesses about lawyers Jenna Ellis and Kenneth Chesebro, who also worked on the effort to overturn the election, according to the WSJ.
CNN reported last week that Rudy Giuliani recently sat down with federal investigators probing the effort to overturn the election. The WSJ notes that Giuliani spoke with Smith’s team for around eight hours, and that prosecutors were particularly interested in a now-infamous Oval Office meeting in which Powell tried to get Trump to have the military seize voting machines. The House Jan. 6 Committee obtained a never-issued executive order for the military to seize machines, dated Dec. 16, two days before Powell pitched the president on the plan.
Hours after meeting with Powell, Trump tweeted “Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!”
Prosecutors also reportedly asked Giuliani about John Eastman, the lawyer who masterminded the alternate electors scheme that fell apart when Vice President Mike Pence certified the Electoral College results on Jan. 6 (and also because it was illegal). Jeffrey Clark, the former DOJ official whom Trump considered elevating to attorney general to help overturn the election, and Mark Meadows, Trump’s former and final chief of staff, has already testified in one or both of Smith’s probes. Rolling Stone reported in June that Trump’s team suspects Meadows could be ratting on the former president.
It’s unclear if or when Smith will bring charges against Trump or any of his allies who worked to keep him in office ahead of the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6. Smith’s team has certainly been busy talking to witnesses, though, including two fake electors who struck a deal to cooperate.
Smith isn’t even the only prosecutor who might indict Trump for working to overturn the election. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is widely expected to file charges in her office’s investigation into effort to overturn the results in Georgia. The former president’s name may or may not be at the top of the indictment, but any potential charges aren’t likely to prevent another showdown with President Biden. The Messenger reported Monday on how Trump’s current indictments — in New York for falsifying business records and by the DOJ for his handling of classified documents — are actually helping his chances to land the Republican nomination.
English
العربية
Nederlands
Français
Deutsch
Italiano
日本語
한국어
Русский
Español
Svenska
Türkçe
اردو
Tiếng Việt