Politics
Trump Letter Calling For ‘Seizure’ Of Election Material Revealed In Log To Jan. 6 Probers
A chilling item in a document log provided to Jan. 6 investigators describes a draft letter by then-President Donald Trump calling for the “seizure” of election materials after he lost.
The log, along with a trove of documents, was provided last week to the House select committee probing the insurrection. They were handed over by Trump ally Bernard Kerik, former New York City police commissioner and a confidant of Trump’s one-time attorney Rudy Giuliani, Politico reported.
Kerik was a key adviser to Trump’s legal team trying to cook up a narrative of fraud in the presidential election Joe Biden won.
Besides the documents Kerik turned over to the committee, he also offered a log of documents he refused to provide, including the Trump letter, according to Politico.
Among the documents withheld is one described as a “Draft Letter from POTUS to Seize Evidence in the Interest of National Security for the 2020 Elections.”
Though Trump ultimately didn’t take action to seize election materials, such a letter could be a key piece of information in the investigation into Trump’s strategy to undermine a legitimate election.
Authorities have found no evidence of any notable fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
The letter was created Dec. 17, 2020, a day before Trump met in the Oval Office with advisers including former Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn and discussed seizing election equipment in states Trump lost.
Trump also discussed naming controversial far-right attorney and conspiracy theorist Sidney Powell as a “special counsel” to investigate alleged election fraud, The New York Times reported, but Trump didn’t follow through with it.
Flynn had already suggested Trump could invoke martial law to seize control of the election.
The Dominion Voting Systems has since sued Powell for $1.3 billion for the “unprecedented harm” it says Powell wreaked with her “wild,” baseless allegations of voter fraud.
Powell and other attorneys were ordered to pay $175,000 in sanctions to Michigan officials they had unsuccessfully sued over baseless claims of election fraud.
A U.S. District judge said the lawyers had engaged in “a historic and profound abuse of the judicial process,” and called some of the claims “fantastical.”
Kerik has agreed to a voluntary interview with the House select committee, possibly on Jan. 13. He was subpoenaed by the panel in November.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost
