Jack Smith digs into weird Oval Office meeting after Trump’s election: report

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Special counsel Jack Smith’s team has reportedly fueled its interest in an infamous Oval Office meeting held at the eleventh hour of Trump’s presidency, in which the former president submitted proposals of desperate measures to keep him in office despite the objections of his White House counsel.

Investigators questioned witnesses before the grand jury and during interviews about the meeting, which took place six weeks after Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, multiple sources told CNN. Some witnesses were first questioned about the meeting months ago. Others, like Rudy Giuliani, were asked about the meeting recently. Giuliani, in particular, spoke to investigators over two days last month in a voluntary interview about a range of topics, including the Dec. 18, 2020 meeting he attended, sources said. CNN.

Prosecutors, the sources added, were particularly interested in three outside Trump advisers who were present at the meeting: former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne and former national security adviser that Michael Flynn.

Giuliani’s attorney, an attorney for Powell and an attorney for Byrne declined CNN’s request for comment.

Both Powell and Byrne spoke extensively under oath to the House select committee investigating the insurrection on January 6. Flynn, however, refused to answer the committee’s questions citing the Fifth Amendment.

“The special counsel’s continued interest in the tumultuous episode comes as Smith’s team appears poised to charge investigative decisions in efforts to overturn the election results,” CNN reported. “Investigators are still gathering evidence, contacting several new witnesses in recent weeks and working to schedule interviews.”

December 14 is of special interest to prosecutors.

A tense December 2020 Oval Office meeting turned tense as Trump’s outside advisers engaged top West Wing lawyers in a heated debate over a plan to have the military seize voting machines in key state that Trump lost in the election. Those attending the meeting also considered naming Powell as special counsel to investigate alleged voter fraud, as well as Trump’s use of martial law in an effort to overturn the election results. Attendees screamed and shouted insults, and Trump ended the night by tweeting that the upcoming election results protest on January 6, 2021, in Washington, DC would be “wild.”

The special counsel prosecutor’s list of witnesses questioned about the meeting includes former national security advisor Robert O’Brien, who according to a transcript of his deposition released by the panel told the House select committee that he attended the meeting on December by phone after it devolves. .

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“The consistent emphasis on the Dec. 18 Oval Office meeting appears to overlap with the special counsel’s broader effort to hone in on the actions of several Trump lawyers and allies in the period from Dec. 14, 2020, until January 6, 2021,” CNN said.

Dec. 14 is of special interest to prosecutors, sources told the outlet. That date was marked by a host of alternative Republican electors in seven battleground states falsely confirming that Trump had won the election, and a meeting of Electoral College members in each state to officially vote, ultimately confirming Joe Biden as the winner with 306 electoral votes. votes compared to Trump’s 232.

Efforts to recruit illegal electors, have them sign certificates falsely certifying Trump’s victory, and use them to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence to prevent certification of the win in Biden’s electoral college on January 6 became the main focus of investigators during the investigation. .

In recent weeks, at least one witness told the special counsel’s team that Trump allies had asked Pence to question the legitimacy of Biden’s electors in seven battleground states because of alleged widespread voter fraud, and leave the certification decision to the states themselves. , a source told CNN.

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