Yesterday, we alluded to the interest Special Counsel Jack Smith had in the interactions between the Malignant Loser, his "attorneys," and other advisors related to plans to overturn the 2020 election results. CNN is now reporting that Smith is zeroing in on a meeting that took place in the Oval Office on December 18, 2020, between the Malignant Loser and his band of misfits and seditionists:
Special counsel Jack Smith’s team has signaled a continued interest in a chaotic Oval Office meeting that took place in the final days of the Trump administration, during which the former president considered some of the most desperate proposals to keep him in power over objections from his White House counsel.
Multiple sources told CNN that investigators have asked several witnesses before the grand jury and during interviews about the meeting, which happened about six weeks after Donald Trump lost the 2020 election. Some witnesses were asked about the meeting months ago, while several others have faced questions about it more recently, including Rudy Giuliani.
Last month, for two consecutive days, Giuliani sat down with investigators for a voluntary interview about a range of topics, including the tumultuous December 2020 meeting that he attended, sources said.
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. [snip]
Both Powell and Byrne previously spoke at length under oath about the meeting and other topics to the House committee that investigated the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. Flynn declined to answer questions in his committee interview, by asserting his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.
The special counsel’s sustained interest in the chaotic episode comes as Smith’s team appears to be nearing charging decisions in the investigation into efforts to overturn the election results. Investigators are still gathering evidence, reaching out to several new witnesses in recent weeks and working to schedule interviews.
During the heated Oval Office meeting on December 18, 2020, outside advisers faced off with top West Wing attorneys over a plan to have the military seize voting machines in crucial states that Trump had lost. They also discussed naming Powell as special counsel to investigate supposed voter fraud, and Trump invoking martial law as part of his efforts to overturn the election.
Shouting and insults ensued; the night ended with Trump tweeting that a coming gathering in Washington, DC, on January 6, 2021, to protest the election results “will be wild.”
Among the witnesses questioned by the special counsel’s team was former national security adviser Robert O’Brien, who told the January 6 House select committee that he was patched into the December 18 meeting by phone after it had already devolved into a screaming match between Flynn, Powell and White House lawyers, according to a transcript of O’Brien’s deposition that was released by the panel. [snip]
The consistent emphasis on the December 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 during the period from December 14, 2020, to January 6, 2021.
The December 14 date is of particular interest to prosecutors, sources told CNN. On that day, slates of alternate Republican electors in seven battleground states signed certificates falsely asserting Trump had won. Also that day, members of the Electoral College met in all 50 states to officially cast their ballots, declaring Joe Biden the winner with 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232...
Reports of this meeting and its participants have been known for some time. It's only now that witnesses have been called and put under oath to testify as to what transpired, specifically how much direction the Malignant Loser provided to his cult members. There's been reporting that sweaty seditionist Rudy "Too Toot" Giuliani met with prosecutors in a "proffer session," wherein he agreed to provide information with the understanding that it wouldn't be used against him later. Others may also be cooperating in this or other stages of the investigation (the big catch would be former chief of staff Mark Meadows). We don't know what we don't know, as they say.
But the seriousness and speed with which the Special Counsel has moved to hold the Malignant Loser accountable since he was appointed should hearten those of us who have witnessed the Malignant Loser's frequent escapes from justice over many years. This time, maybe not so much.
(Image: Powell, Trump, and Flynn/ photo illustration by Salon/Getty)
