Photographer: Al Drago / Bloomberg
Photographer: Al Drago / Bloomberg
President Donald Trump suggested naming Sidney Powell, the attorney who helped some of the early and unsuccessful legal challenges of his campaign in the November election results, as special counsel to investigate allegations of voter fraud.
Trump made the suggestion at a Friday meeting at the White House with his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, according to a person familiar with the conversation who asked for anonymity to describe the internal discussion.
Any attempt to nominate Powell to a role investigating the election results is likely to raise questions about the legitimacy of the president personally appointing special counsel, and resistance from those in the government who do not believe his baseless claims of widespread voter fraud. Special advisers are usually appointed by the Attorney General.
Powell herself is a controversial figure who was denied by the president’s campaign last month after she accused Republican elected officials of involvement in a plan to change the election results. The conspiracy theory included unfounded allegations that former Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez attempted to manipulate the election by tampering with voting software, despite Justice and Homeland Security officials claiming they had found no evidence of widespread voter fraud.
Friday’s talk also included a discussion of an idea by Giuliani to have the Department of Homeland Security seize and investigate the voting machines that the president said – without evidence – could have been tampered with. according to the New York Times.
Trump asked about former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s suggestion during an appearance on Newsmax this week that the president could impose martial law and deploy the military for a second vote, the paper reported. The president dismissed the report in a tweet.
The various plans that the president is embracing are the latest sign of his inability to come to terms with his defeat to President-elect Joe Biden, who won the election by a 306-232 electoral college margin. The president’s legal team has received resounding defeats in courts across the country, and twice its attempts rejected by the US Supreme Court.
Earlier Saturday, in a post on Twitter, Trump publicly suggested the possibility of a hack of the electoral system.
“Our ridiculous voting machines could also have been hit during the election, which is now clear that I won a lot, making it an even more corrupted shame for the US,” Trump wrote.
Trump also tweeted support for Tommy Tuberville after Alabama’s elected senator said he is considering joining a member of the House to object to the election results at a joint session of Congress in January, where lawmakers will vote Biden’s victory. ratify. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell has urged fellow Republicans not to object as it could harm the party politically.
Biden said on Thursday that he was concerned that if Trump boycotted his inauguration, it could damage the US image on the world stage, although he would not take Trump’s possible absence “ personally. ”
“We have been the beacon of democracy for the past 200 years, and the peaceful transfer of power, and the power transferred from one person to another, one party to another, is who we are,” said Biden. in an interview with CBS talk show host Stephen Colbert. “And that’s the part I’m worried about, how that reflects around the world.”
(Adds Trump’s response to the martial law report in paragraph six.)