Part IX: Indicted Again! (Steps 708-832)

Part IX: Indicted Again!

(Steps #708 – 832.)

 

__________

 

“Just say that the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the Republican congressmen.”

 

President Donald J. Trump

__________ 

 

AUGUST 1, 2023: Donald Trump’s legal problems increased dramatically today, when the Department of Justice unveiled its second criminal indictment against him, and the third, overall. He now faces four additional felony charges, related to one authoritarian goal. Trump and his co-conspirators (there are six) set out to “defraud” the United States and steal the last presidential election.

Special Prosecutor Jack Smith.

  

NOTE ON METHODOLOGY: We are still using orange highlights in honor of Donald’s favorite toner. That’s just our little joke. As for all names of individuals and groups in bold, these are people who know President Trump, or his pals, were lying about the “Stolen Election.” 

We do not use Democrats as witnesses, except in the rarest cases. Who knows Trump has been lying? Start with an entire grand jury, below. Throw in Trump’s own attorney general, Bill Barr. Add Vice President Pence, the Director of National Intelligence, and many more. 

 

As for our numbering system, we are doing our best to lead the MAGA faithful, step by easy step, to a hard Truth they would rather not face. 

Trump lost in 2020. He’s been lying ever since. And he’s going to keep lying as long as the dupes fall for his lies. Worst of all, he has a substantial part of his political base all riled up and ready to start shooting. A civil war! 

Cause? Trump can’t admit he lost in 2020, and might lose again in November. He might also win, of course. 

We pick up where Part VIII left off.

___ 

 

As soon as news broke of this latest indictment, Trump allies began squealing that the “fix” was in. They demanded to know why Special Prosecutor Jack Smith had filed in Washington D.C., a jurisdiction where jurors might be less favorable to the Orange Dumpling from Mar-a-Lago. 

708. Sorry, MAGA folks. This is how courts work. Both grand juries and regular juries are impaneled in jurisdictions where crimes are alleged to have occurred. Burglarize a home in Stanford, Montana, and go to trial in Stanford. Get caught on a rolling stop in the Village of Glendale, Ohio – how sadly does this blogger know – and pay your stupid fine in the village Mayor’s Court. 

Trump is charged in Washington D.C. because he was living in the White House when his alleged crimes occurred. 

(See how easy this is!) 

 

“Dishonesty, fraud and deceit.” 

709. We should also point out that almost every potential witness cited in today’s indictment either worked for President Trump during his time in office, works for him now, or was/still is a Republican. 

710. All have testified before the grand jury under oath. 

Several co-conspirators (currently unindicted) have also provided “testimony,” if you want to call it that, by pleading the Fifth – that is invoking the right not to incriminate themselves – hundreds of times.

 

711. We also know that in an interview on CBS today, former Attorney General Bill Barr said he would be delighted to testify against Donald J. Trump when the former president comes to trial. (We might also be wise to remember that Trump’s first attorney general, Jeff Sessions, had to announce that he would not break the law to help Trump during the Mueller investigation.) 

712. Mr. Barr has already testified before a congressional panel. Today, he said again that “on three occasions at least, in no uncertain terms,” he told Trump, “there was no evidence of fraud that would have changed the outcome” of the last presidential election. Trump fans should ponder that.

Attorney General Bill Barr, left, with the president.
Three times in December 2020, he told his boss there was no real voter fraud.

 

NOT-SO-MUCH-FUN FACT: To be fair, in April 2024, Barr said he would vote for Trump over Biden, come November, describing both candidates as “unfit.” (I don’t know if his stance holds with Kamala Harris having replaced Biden.) 

As for Barr, Trump had previously described him as, “weak, slow moving, lethargic, gutless and lazy.”  

(A match made in MAGA heaven.) 

 

To subvert election results. 

Mr. Trump stands accused of spending more than two months (November 4, 2020-January 6, 2021) spreading lies and claiming there had been “outcome-determinative” fraud in the voting. “These claims were false,” according to the indictment, “and the Defendant knew that they were false.” 

According to the indictment, even before all the votes were counted and recorded, “the Defendant” began to pursue “unlawful means” to discount legal votes and subvert the results. Three unique conspiracies were hatched in an effort to alter the outcome. All “targeted a bedrock function” of the U.S. government – determining the true winners in all federal elections. Trump and “co-conspirators, known and unknown to the grand jury ” turned to the use of “dishonesty, fraud, and deceit.” 

713. We know, for example, that film of Trump ally Roger Stone has been uncovered. In this case, we can watch as Mr. Stone outlines a plan for contesting the results of the 2020 election. He can be seen and heard laying out the plot on November 5, two days before Biden was declared victor. 

 

We also know that the worst members of Team Trump rose to power during Donald’s four years in office, because only the worst of the worst would cater to his criminal inclinations. Stone, a seven-time felon, and Steve Bannon, who snagged a Golden Pardon from Trump and avoided a felony conviction of his own, were plotting to trick the MAGA folks into believing the election was stolen. Their “winning” strategy was always going to involve pushing the “Big Lie.” (See: Steps 79-80, Part I.) 

In this new case, six unindicted co-conspirators are listed, but not named. All could be charged at a later date. 

 

Five were quickly identified by the free press: 

Co-Conspirator 1: Rudy Giuliani. 

Co-Conspirator 2: Professor John Eastman, constitutional scholar. 

Co-Conspirator 3: Sidney Powell, Team Trump lawyer. 

Co-Conspirator 4. Jeffrey Clark, former Deputy Assistant Attorney General with the Department of Justice. 

Co-Conspirator 5: Kenneth Chesebro, Team Trump lawyer. 

Co-Conspirator 6: Possibly Boris Epshteyn (according to The New York Times), another lawyer. 

(Co-conspirators #1-5 were next indicted in a separate Georgia investigation.) 

 

UPDATE (October 14, 2024): If you are following these cases, you know that Team Trump lawyers have used every delaying tactic possible to push trials past Election Day 2024, and, if possible, into the Twenty-Second Century. 

A trial was first scheduled for March 4, 2024, but the case was fought all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court. Eleven months passed between the time of indictment to the court’s decision on July 1, 2024, when the justices ruled 6-3, that a president has immunity from prosecution for all “official duties.” 

That much is fine; but the problem lies in the murky middle, where the question becomes, “Was it an ‘official duty,’ when Donald asked the heads of the Department of Justice to lie and say the 2020 election was stolen – tantamount to providing him with cover to steal it for himself?” 

 

To be determined: 

Will this case ever reach trial? If Donald is re-elected, it likely will not. We can note, however, that Co-conspirators #3 and #5, above, have already taken plea deals in the Georgia election fraud case – also lodged against Trump and multiple members of the Team Trump felons’ brigade. 

Chesebro is now a felon. 

Powell got by, pleading to six misdemeanors in the Georgia case, and was placed on probation for six years. Her legal career is on hiatus, at best – and likely terminated. 

(We are not numbering the above steps, because they have been counted in other posts.) 

 

714. Co-Conspirator #1 has so many legal problems, related to his work for Team Trump that we’ll just say he’s bankrupt. Having defamed two Georgia poll workers – who did not steal any votes – even though Rudy and President Trump screamed that they did – Giuliani was hit for $148.2 million in a defamation suit. Now the two plaintiffs are asking the courts to seize some of his prized assets. 

Including: 

1 Manhattan condo (estimated value: $6 million)

1 Palm Beach condo ($3.5 million)

1 Mercedes Benz automobile

3 Yankees World Series rings (one estimated to be worth $30,000)

Dozens of luxury watches

 

715. We can also report that Rudy’s lying got him disbarred in New York. 

716. Then he got disbarred in Washington D.C., as well. 

 

“These claims were false, and the Defendant knew they were false.” 

Anyway, back to the indictment against Mr. Trump. We should further note that the Electoral Count Act of 1887 lays out rules for certifying and counting electoral votes. For more than 130 years the ECA allowed for a peaceful and orderly process to determine the winner of presidential elections. Trump and his allies stand accused of trying to sabotage that law. 

717. According to prosecutors, “the Defendant” and his co-conspirators “used knowingly false claims of election fraud” to pressure state legislators and elected officials to “subvert” the true voting results. 

(You can find plenty of examples in previous posts in this series.) 

 

In pursuit of this end, “fraudulent slates of electors” were organized in seven states, making this a widespread conspiracy. (Those states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.) 

Pursuant to that plan, Trump and others tried to force the Justice Department “to conduct sham election crime investigations and to send a letter to the [seven] targeted states that falsely claimed” that DOJ had “identified significant concerns that may have impacted the election outcome.” 

The Defendant and his co-conspirators tried to enlist Vice President Mike Pence in their plot to “fraudulently alter the election results.” 

The Defendant, Donald John Trump, made “dozens of specific claims” about supposed fraud in key states. “These claims were false, and the Defendant knew they were false.” 

718. The Defendant’s Vice President – who personally stood to gain by remaining in office as part of the Defendant’s ticket and whom the Defendant asked to study fraudulent allegations – told the Defendant that he had conducted the studies and found no evidence of “outcome-determinative fraud.” 

(Pence refused to have a part in the plot.) 

 

Senior leaders at the Department of Justice told Trump that his claims of widespread voter fraud were false. 

So did the Director of National Intelligence. 

The Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency assured the Defendant there was no evidence of significant fraud. When the head of that agency – a Trump appointee – refused to say the election had been rigged, Trump fired him for his honesty. 

“Senior White House attorneys,” chosen by the “Defendant,” told Trump that he had lost the election, and not because of fraud. They informed him that his presidency would end on January 20, 2021. 

(Any American can read this indictment, if they wish to be informed.) 

 

The indictment further charges that, “The Defendant’s knowingly false statements were integral to his criminal plans to defeat the federal government function, obstruct the certification, and interfere with others’ right to vote and have their votes counted.” 

719. For example, Trump claimed 10,000 dead people had voted in Georgia. That was false. 

720. The Defendant said that “there had been 205,000 more votes than voters in Pennsylvania.” That was false. 

721. The Defendant insisted there had been “a suspicious vote dump in Detroit, Michigan.” His attorney general had explained to him why “this was false.” Trump’s allies in the Michigan legislature also told him such claims were untrue. 

722. The Defendant claimed 30,000 non-citizens had voted in Arizona. His campaign manager “explained to him that such claims were false. 

723. Trump insisted that the voting machines in key states had been rigged. He was told by top officials that such claims were false. 

724. The Defendant is apparently a moron. (Okay, the blogger made that one up for fun. But it fits. We won’t really count that as a number.) 

724. For real: On November 13, 2020, Trump’s top campaign advisors told him he had lost Arizona, and his hopes for a second term were kaput. 

 

“A strategy to use knowing deceit.” 

The next day, Co-Conspirator 1 announced he would “spearhead” efforts to challenge results. This would be Rudy Giuliani. “From that point on, the Defendant and his co-conspirators executed a strategy to use knowing deceit in the targeted states to impair, obstruct, and defeat the federal government function,” the accurate counting of the popular vote, followed by the electoral votes. 

725. Trump also claimed the two poll workers rigged the vote. A whole bunch of people told him the Georgia vote was not rigged. That would include Attorney General Bill Barr, his replacement, Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia, and others. 

 

UPDATE (March 31, 2024): We should also point out how weak Team Trump’s “evidence” of voter fraud was from the start. 

726. Jenna Ellis, who helped push the “Big Lie,” was forced to give a deposition in Rudy’s defamation case. She decided that the best course of action was to tell the whole truth and nothing but… WTF! … She plead the Fifth 308 times. 

727. She was a slacker compared to a second Trump lawyer, Ray Stallings Smith III, who worked hard to overturn voting results in Georgia. He hit the 400-mark while invoking the right not to incriminate his lawyer self.

 

Jenna Ellis, Trump lawyer: Now a convicted felon.

Special Prosecutor Smith also notes that on November 22, 2020, Mr. Trump and Mr. Giuliani called Rusty Bowers, the Arizona Speaker of the House, and made multiple false claims of voter fraud in that state. The Speaker asked for evidence of such claims, which Giuliani “did not have, but claimed he would provide.” 

He never did.

 

728. On December 1, 2020, Giuliani met with Bowers. When asked again to provide evidence of fraud, Giuliani “responded with words to the effect, ‘We don’t have the evidence, but we have lots of theories.” 

(You can’t alter election results on the basis of “theories.”) 

 

729. On the morning of January 4, 2021, Co-Conspirator 2, Professor John Eastman, called Mr. Bowers and urged him to call the Arizona House into special session and convince lawmakers to “decertify the state’s legitimate electors.” The Speaker told Dr. Eastman that state investigations had uncovered no proof of significant voter fraud. Eastman “conceded that he ‘[didn’t] know enough about the facts on the ground.’” Regardless, he wanted the Arizona House of Representatives to vote to throw out results and then “let the courts sort it out.” 

730. On January 6, 2021, during his speech to a large crowd in Washington D.C., preceding the attack on Congress, Trump insisted that 36,000 non-citizens had voted in Arizona – not even using the same number he had used before. 

 

731. On November 16, 2020, Trump involved Co-Conspirator 3, Sidney Powell, in the plot, suggesting “bullet points” critical of a “certain voting machine company,” which we now know to be Dominion Voting Systems. Powell responded nine minutes later, explaining that these points should be included in every future claim of voter fraud, so significant that “THE ENTIRE ELECTION … BE SET ASIDE” in Pennsylvania and Georgia. 

On November 25, Powell filed a lawsuit in Georgia claiming that “massive election fraud” had occurred in that state, “accomplished through the voting machine company’s election software and hardware.” 

732. The Defendant, Donald J. Trump, had already admitted to others that Powell’s claims sounded “crazy.” 

 

UPDATE: The voting machine company, Dominion, has since the 2020 election won multiple defamation suits against some of the big names in right-wing news, after those networks peddled the same lies of rigging. The biggest of all: Fox News getting slammed for $787.5 million. 

$787.5 million!!!!!!!!! 

(Dear MAGA fans – that’s even worse than Rudy!) 

(In case you missed it.)

  

733. On December 3, 2020, Giuliani met with the Judiciary Subcommittee of the Georgia State Senate, “with the intention of misleading state senators” into blocking the certification of the Georgia electors pledged to vote for Joseph R. Biden. Rudy claimed again that 10,000 dead people had voted in the state. 

A senior advisor to the Defendant notified the Defendant’s White House Chief of Staff that the “actual number was 12.” 

(Slightly less than 10,000.) 

 

734. We now know that that advisor was Blake Meadows, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows’ son. 

735. During the presentation to the Georgia Senate subcommittee, Co-Conspirator 1 played a “misleading excerpt of a video recording of ballot-counting at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta and insinuated that it showed election workers counting ‘suitcases’ of illegal ballots.” 

736. Also on December 3, then-President Trump claimed that ballot stuffing had been proven in Georgia. “Plenty more coming,” the president tweeted, “but this alone leads to an easy win of the State!” 

737. The Georgia Secretary of State shot down this claim on December 4, and again on December 7, just to be sure. 

(Trump didn’t care.) 

 

738. On December 8, 2020, Trump called the Georgia Attorney General, and asked him to help overturn state returns. That is: he was suborning election fraud. “The Georgia Attorney General told the Defendant that officials had investigated various claims of election fraud in the state and were not seeing evidence to support them.” 

739. All these Georgians were Republicans, and had worked to help Trump win the 2020 vote in their state. 

 

“Conspiracy shit.” 

740. That same day, “a Senior Campaign Advisor – who spoke with the Defendant on a daily basis and had informed him on multiple occasions that various fraud claims were untrue,” told Trump that Giuliani’s claims were garbage. 

In an email, that advisor wrote,

 

When our research and campaign legal team can’t back up any of the claims made by our Elite Strike Force Legal Team, you can see why we’re 0-32 on our cases. I’ll obviously hustle to help on all fronts, but it’s tough to own any of this when it’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership. 

 

On December 10, 2020, we know that Giuliani tried again to change the Georgia election results – this time meeting with the Georgia House of Representatives’ Government Affairs Committee. He played the same doctored video tape, featuring the “suitcase” full of votes, insisted it showed “voter fraud right in front of people’s eyes,” and that this fraud was “the tip of the iceberg.” 

Giuliani cited the two poll workers by name. He accused them of “quite obviously surreptitiously passing around USB ports as if they are vials of heroin or cocaine.” 

Thereafter, the indictment notes, “the two election workers received numerous death threats.” 

In court, as part of the defamation case she and her daughter filed, Ruby Freeman explained that she received so many death threats the F.B.I. suggested she move. There were racist threats, of course, and calls for her to be lynched. One caller said they fantasized about hearing Ruby’s neck snap. 

(Any American who fails to see the danger here should be ashamed.)

  

741. In a meeting on December 15, the Defendant summoned top officials at DOJ to an Oval Office meeting. Those officials told the president that Rudy was full of beans. 

742. Attorney General Bill Barr had already resigned, after refusing a request by the Defendant to break the law. 

743. That same day, a verification of voter signatures in Cobb County, Georgia was being conducted. White House Chief of Staff Meadows, who was observing the process, notified the Defendant that Georgia officials were “conducting themselves in an exemplary fashion.” If fraud existed, they would find it. Trump tweeted instead, “that the Georgia officials administering the signature verification process were trying to hide evidence of election fraud and were ‘[t]errible people!’” 

 

744. On December 27, Trump pressed the Acting U.S. Attorney General and the Acting U.S. Deputy Assistant Attorney General to support his unfounded claims of voter fraud in Georgia. They told him he was full of beans. 

745. On December 31, the Defendant put a fitting end to the year. He signed a “verification affirming false election fraud allegations made on his behalf in a lawsuit filed in his name against the Georgia Governor.” Meanwhile, Eastman was admitting in an email that he and Trump had “been made aware that some of the allegations (and evidence proffered by the experts) has been inaccurate,” and that signing a new affirmation claiming voter fraud “with that knowledge…would not be accurate.” Eastman and Trump “caused the Defendant’s signed verification to be filed nonetheless.” 

In a 62-minute phone call on January 2, 2021, the Defendant pressured the Georgia Secretary of State to “find” 11,780 votes, just one more than needed to give him the “win” of the popular vote in that state. When Secretary Brad Raffensberger destroyed the claim that the two poll workers had counted tens of thousands of votes illegally, he offered the president a link to prove his case. 

“I don’t care about a link, I don’t need it. I have a much … I have a much better link,” Trump responded. 

We’ve already covered this call; but for over an hour, Trump continued to make the same ludicrous claims that investigators had already disproven. For example, he said that 5,000 dead people had voted in Georgia. Secretary Raffensperger said they had found evidence of… 

Two.

 

746. The following day, after the free press broke the story about the call, the Defendant claimed in a tweet that Raffensperger had been “unwilling, or unable, to answer questions such as the ‘ballots under table’ scam, ballot destruction, out of state ‘voters,’ dead voters, and more. He has no clue!”

 

(BE INFORMED: LISTEN TO THE CALL YOURSELF.)

  

747. On January 6, in a speech delivered in Washington D.C., just before a mob was unleashed to attack the Capitol, Trump claimed that 10,300 dead people had voted in Georgia – changing the number again. 

 

“As legislative leaders, we will follow the law.” 

The indictment turned next to similar efforts to overturn a fair vote in Michigan. A few highlights should suffice: 

748. Trump said “batches” of votes were brought in, in Detroit, late on Election Night, “and nobody knew where they came from.” On November 20, the Majority Leader of the Michigan Senate informed the Defendant “that he had lost Michigan not because of fraud, but because the Defendant had underperformed with certain voter populations in the state.” 

749. The Majority Leader and Michigan Speaker of the House issued a statement following that meeting, noting, “We have not yet been made aware of any information [emphasis added] that would change the outcome of the election in Michigan and as legislative leaders, we will follow the law and follow the normal process regarding Michigan’s electors, just as we have said throughout this election.”

 

750. On December 1, 2020, Trump raised the matter of the “vote dump” in Michigan with then-Attorney General Barr. Barr informed the Defendant “there was no indication of fraud in Detroit.” 

751. The next day, Trump made a knowingly false statement that in Michigan, in the morning hours of November 4, “a vote dump of 149,772 votes came in unexpectedly. We were winning by a lot. That batch was received in horror. Nobody knows anything about it. … It’s corrupt. Detroit is corrupt. I have a lot of friends in Detroit. They know it. But Detroit is totally corrupt.” 

(Having “friends in Detroit” is not evidence in court.) 

 

752. On December 4, Co-Conspirator 1 called the Michigan House Speaker. Giuliani said that Georgia officials were likely to change the certification of their state’s electoral votes, insisted that “they don’t just have the right to do it but the obligation,” and added, “Help me get this done in Michigan.” 

Rudy was lying. 

Again. 

 

753. On December 7, Giuliani texted the Michigan Senate Majority Leader. “So I need you to pass a joint resolution from the Michigan legislature that states that, “the election is in dispute,” and the slate of electors already submitted should be withdrawn. 

(Rudy was pressing Republican leaders to break the law.) 

 

“But I love our republic, too.” 

754. On December 14, Michigan certified its electoral votes for Mr. Biden. The Michigan Speaker of the House made it plain. No evidence had been uncovered to justify the plotters’ claims.

 

I fought hard for President Trump [the Speaker explained]. Nobody wanted him to win more than me. I think he’s done an incredible job. But I love our republic, too. I can’t fathom risking our norms, traditions and institutions to pass a resolution retroactively changing the electors for Trump, simply because some think there may have been enough widespread fraud to give him the win. That’s unprecedented … [and] I fear we’d lose our country forever. This truly would bring mutual assured destruction for every future election in regards to the Electoral College, and I can’t stand for that. I won’t.

 

755. On January 6, 2021, Trump would once again assert that tens of thousands of illegal votes had been counted in Detroit. That made the crowd listening to his speech mad – and off to storm Capitol Hill they went. 

 

“No way to defend it.” 

756. In Pennsylvania, we had more of the same. According to the federal indictment, Trump pushed multiple false claims about voter fraud in Philadelphia, maligning a Republican City Commissioner. That commissioner and members of his family were subjected to a torrent of death threats. 

757. Giuliani claimed that Pennsylvania had issued 1.8 million absentee ballots, but 2.5 million were returned! Privately a Trump campaign staffer admitted that this claim was “just wrong,” and there was “no way to defend it.” 

759. The Deputy Campaign Manager responded, “We have been saying this for a while. It’s very frustrating.”

 

760. On December 31, 2020, and again on January 3, 2021, Trump raised a claim with top DOJ officials, insisting there had been 205,000 more votes in Pennsylvania than there were voters. 

They told him he was full of beans. 

On January 6, Trump would stir up the mob that attacked the Capitol, again repeating the false “205,000 more votes” claim. 

 

Team Trump was taking another series of lumps in Wisconsin. On November 29, 2020, the results of a recount of two heavily Democratic counties in that state, paid for by the Trump campaign, showed Biden gaining votes. 

(Team Trump spent $3 million on the recount – which is comical.) 

 

761. On December 21, the Defendant called on the Wisconsin legislature to overturn election results and keep President-elect Biden from taking office. 

762. On December 27, top officials at DOJ told Trump he was still full of beans, regarding his claims of voter fraud in Wisconsin. 

Trump wasn’t fazed. On January 6, 2021, in his fiery speech to supporters in D.C., he insisted again that the election in Wisconsin had been stolen. 

 

763. Unable to convince state officials to overturn the fair vote, the Defendant and his misfit allies,

 

developed a new plan: to marshal individuals who would have served as the Defendant’s electors, had he won the popular vote [emphasis added, unless otherwise noted], in seven targeted states … and cause those individuals to make and send to the Vice President and Congress false certifications that they were legitimate electors.

 

764. The indictment alleges that the submission of these “fraudulent slates would create a fake controversy” and “position the Vice President – presiding on January 6 [2021] as President of the Senate – to supplant legitimate electors with the Defendant’s fake electors and certify the Defendant as president.” 

765. Today, we know that Wisconsin’s ten fake electors have admitted that Mr. Biden won the popular vote in their state. Andrew Hitt, former head of the state Republican Party, and one of those “fakes” sat for an interview with 60 Minutes. He admitted he and the others were “tricked” into signing false documents. He said he was deeply involved in the state’s election and did not believe there had been fraud. Finally, he admitted that he signed the documents – declaring he and the others were legitimate electors – out of “sheer terror” if he didn’t. 

766. “Can you imagine the repercussions on myself, my family,” he said. 

When Anderson Cooper, the host, asked if he feared for his safety, Hitt had no doubt. “If my lawyer is right,” he explained, “and the whole reason Trump loses Wisconsin is because of me, I would be scared to death.” 

(See: List of people threatened with death at end of this post.) 

 

767. Even more importantly, the fake electors admitted their actions were “part of an attempt to improperly overturn the 2020 presidential election results.” 

(So, MAGA folks, who was behind that attempt?) 

(If you are true patriots, you need to figure this out.)

  

“Deprive Biden of electoral votes.” 

The newest plan was the brainchild of Co-Conspirator 5, Kenneth Chesebro, and evolved slowly from a legal attempt to preserve Trump’s right to challenge results in state and federal courts, into a “corrupt plan.” 

On December 6, 2020, the “Fraudulent Elector Memorandum,” as prosecutors label it, laid out a new strategy. Fake electors would “meet and mimic as best as possible the actions of the legitimate Biden electors,” and on January 6, Mike Pence would “open and count the fraudulent votes, setting up a fake controversy that would derail the proper certification of Biden as president-elect.” 

(If you don’t see the danger, MAGA folks, go back to the start and read again.) 

(Maybe twice.) 

 

768. Co-Conspirator 5 admitted that in some states it would be “virtually impossible” to successfully “take the same steps as the legitimate electors because state law required formal participation in the process by state officials, or access to official resources.”  

769. Mr. Chesebro understood that the U.S. Supreme Court would almost certainly reject the idea that Pence could just pick and choose which electoral votes to count. He was not concerned. Submitting fake electoral votes would focus attention on claims that the election had been “stolen.” It would confuse the American people. Even better, it would “buy the Trump campaign more time to win litigation that would deprive Biden of electoral votes and/or add to Trump’s column.” 

770. Chesebro wasn’t interested in whether or not the popular vote had been verified in the contested states. His focus was “messaging.” If Team Trump could create enough confusion, he suggested,

 

I believe that what can be achieved on Jan. 6 is not simply to keep Biden below 270 electoral votes [the number required to be elected]. It seems feasible that the vote count can be conducted so that at no point will Trump be behind in the electoral vote count unless and until Biden can obtain a favorable decision from the Supreme Court upholding the Electoral Count Act as constitutional, or otherwise recognizing the power of Congress (and not the president of the Senate) to count the votes.

 

In a word, the plan was about creating “confusion.” Trickery would win the day, not the voice of the people. 

The plan was expanded to include New Mexico, “which the Defendant had lost by more than ten percent of the popular vote.”

 

Kenneth Chesebro, Trump lawyer: Now a convicted felon.

 

771. December 6, 2020: Dr. Eastman called the Chairwoman of the Republican National Committee “to ensure that the plan was in motion. He wanted the RNC to help gather electors in targeted states but “falsely represented to her that such electors’ votes would be used only if ongoing litigation in one of the states changed the results in the Defendant’s favor.” 

“After the RNC Chairwoman consulted the Campaign and heard that work on gathering electors was underway, she called and reported this information to the Defendant [Trump], who responded approvingly.” 

On December 7, 2020, Giuliani spoke with Co-Conspirator 6, an as yet unnamed political consultant, and details were worked out to line up lawyers to assist “in the fraudulent elector effort in the targeted states.” 

 

“It could appear treasonous for the AZ electors to vote.” 

772. The next day Co-Conspirator 5 put in a call to the Arizona attorney who had been suggested in Co-Conspirator 6’s email, as willing to help. That attorney admitted that the plan was for Arizona’s fake electors to send in their votes “even though the votes aren’t legal under federal law  – because they’re not signed by the Governor.” 

Nevertheless, the slate of fakes would give members of Congress cover to “fight about whether they should be counted on January 6^th.” 

773. Even the Arizona lawyer seemed nervous. “Kind of wild/creative,” he called the plan, but he didn’t see any harm, “legally at least.” The idea would be to raise a smokescreen behind which the plotters could further their plot. The plan was to file a petition with the Supreme Court [the indictment doesn’t say whether it was the Arizona or U.S. Supreme Court, but seems to mean the former], “as a pretext to claim that litigation was pending in the state.” At least one of the “provisional electors” in Arizona contacted Giuliani. He or she warned that “it could appear treasonous for the AZ electors to vote Monday if there is no pending court proceeding…” 

 

774. On December 12, a new problem arose. The “fake electors” in Pennsylvania had “expressed concern about signing certificates representing themselves as legitimate electors.” Giuliani told them not to worry. Their “certificates would be used only if the Defendant succeeded in litigation.” 

775. That never happened. 

776. Discussion followed about including language to that effect in the alternate certifications – but a “Campaign official” warned against it, saying that “if it gets out we changed the language for PA it could snowball.” Several of the Defendant’s electors now refused to participate in the plan. 

(Scratch your noggins, Trump fans – figure out what they figured out.) 

 

“The way this has morphed it’s a crazy plan.” 

On December 13, in another email, Chesebro admitted that successful litigation wouldn’t be required. In the indictment, prosecutors assert, “the plan [now] was to falsely present the fraudulent slates as an alternative to the legitimate slates” before Congress on January 6. 

777. At this point, all kinds of Team Trump members began to sweat. A “Senior Advisor” expressed concern about the plan. The “Deputy Campaign Manager responded, “Here’s the thing the way this has morphed it’s a crazy plan so I don’t know who wants to put their name on it.” 

778. The Senior Advisor replied: “Certifying illegal votes.” 

779. Prosecutors further  note: “In turn, the participants in the group text message refused to have a statement regarding electors attributed to their names because none of them could ‘stand by it.’” 

 

On December 14, “the Defendant’s Campaign filed an election challenge suit in New Mexico at 11:54 a.m., six minutes before the noon deadline, “as a pretext so that there was pending litigation there at the time the fraudulent electors voted.” 

At noon that day the real electors met in their respective states and cast their votes, as required by law. Trump had 232. 

Biden had 306. 

(Biden’s margins of victory in the popular vote in the contested states were as follows: 10,457 in Arizona, 11,799 in Georgia, 154,188 in Michigan, 33,596 in Nevada, 99,720 in New Mexico, 80,555 in Pennsylvania, and 20,682 in Wisconsin.) 

 

By comparison: 

Hillary Clinton lost Michigan by 10,704 votes in 2016. And Team Hillary did not create false electors. 

She lost Pennsylvania by 44,292 votes and no gang of co-conspirators aided her in creating bogus electors. 

Finally, she lost Wisconsin by 22,748 votes. And she did not plot with her advisors to overturn the results. 

(She would have needed to overturn the votes of only three states to claim victory.) 

(No one suggested having VP Biden overturn the vote count on January 6, 2017.)

 

 

780. As we now know, on December 14, 2020, the “fake electors” met and cast “fake votes,” and gave each other “fake high fives,” even though (and here, I’m being serious), as predicted, in most cases they “were unable to satisfy the legal requirements.” 

The fake certificates were then “mailed to the President of the Senate, the Archivist of the United States, and others.” 

The “fake electors” had been lied to about how their votes would be used. 

 

Trump enlists Jeffrey Clark, at DOJ, to join the plot. 

781. With the “fake electors” plan looking to be constructed on quicksand, in late December, President Trump “attempted to use the Justice Department to make knowingly false claims of election fraud to officials in the targeted states through a formal letter under the Acting Attorney General’s signature, thus giving the Defendant’s lies the backing of the federal government.” 

(Barr had refused to involve DOJ in such a plot; his replacement also recoiled.) 

 

782. On December 22, 2020, Trump met secretly with Co-Conspirator 4, Jeffrey Clark. Four days later, Clark lied to Acting AG Jeffrey Rosen, his superior, and claimed the meeting at the White House had been “unplanned.” Clark was told not to have further unauthorized contacts with the White House. 

783. Clark said he would not. 

784. The next morning, Clark called the president, and they talked for three minutes. That afternoon, Trump called the Acting AG and Acting Deputy AG and said he had been told, Clark “is great. I should put him in.” That is: replace Rosen with Clark.

Mr. Clark has since been indicted.

 

On December 27, 2020, the Acting Deputy Attorney General, Richard Donoghue, “told the Defendant that the Justice Department could not and would not change the outcome of the election.” 

Trump responded, “Just say that the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the Republican congressmen.” 

(Let Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and that sorry crew decide the election.) 

 

785. On December 28, Co-Conspirator 4 (Clark) sent a draft letter to top DOJ officials, proposing that they sign, and send the letter to state officials in Georgia. Among several false claims, the letter would say that “two valid slates of electors” had gathered at the proper locations on December 14 and cast votes. This, prosecutors explained, would be “using the authority of the Justice Department to falsely present the fraudulent electors as a valid alternative to the legitimate electors.” 

786. On December 31, the Defendant again summoned top DOJ officers to the White House, and again raised the same claims of election fraud which they had discredited, and which no courts had been able to find. 

787. On January 2, 2021, Co-Conspirator Clark tried to coerce top DOJ officials into signing the Georgia letter – which they deemed chock full of lies.­­­

 

“Well, that’s why there’s an Insurrection Act.” 

788. On January 3, Clark sent out an edited version. No longer would the DOJ say it had “concerns.” Now the letter would state that there was “evidence of significant irregularities that may have impacted the outcome of the election in multiple States….” 

(No such evidence has ever been proven in any U.S. court.) 

 

789. That same morning, Clark met in secret with Trump and accepted an officer to become Acting Attorney General. 

790. Later that day, Clark met with a Deputy White House Counsel. In December that counsel had informed the president that “there is no world, there is no option in which you do not leave the White House” on January 20. The Counsel informed Clark that there was no evidence of “outcome-determinative fraud” in the recent election. If Trump tried to remain in office, there would be “riots in every major city in the United States.” 

791. Clark replied, “Well, that’s why there’s an Insurrection Act.” 

(If Americans got killed or injured, Clark didn’t care.) 

 

Soon after, Clark met with Acting Attorney General Rosen and informed him that he would be replacing him. Rosen said he would not accept being fired by a subordinate and scheduled a meeting with Trump that evening. 

 

Thirteen honest men and women. 

792-803. At the meeting on the evening of January 3, Rosen, Donoghue, another top DOJ official, and three top White House counsels met with Trump. The DOJ officials told the president they would resign, as would six other top officers at DOJ rather than agree to sign the letter or serve under Clark. The White House legal team agreed there was no basis for firing Rosen and replacing him with Clark. Here, at least, we have twelve honest men and women – all Trump appointees or Trump lawyers. The president relented, only because he had a backup plan. 

From that point on, the plot morphed again. Now the Defendant would ramp up pressure on the Vice President, in an effort to get him to agree to count the electoral votes in such a way as to deliver the Defendant the win. 

804. The thirteenth honest individual was Mike Pence.

Pence could have gifted himself a second term - if he was a crook.

 

On December 19, 2020, the Defendant had already called upon supporters to descend on Washington D.C. on January 6, predicting, “Be there, will be wild!” 

On December 23, Trump had re-tweeted a memo titled “Operation ‘Pence’ Card,” which falsely asserted that the VP could unilaterally disqualify the votes of legitimate electors from six states. 

806. That same day, Dr. Eastman circulated a memorandum claiming that seven states had submitted two valid slates of electors. Pence should declare that there was no way to decide which slates were acceptable, and so all of those states’ votes would have to be ignored. With that, Eastman wrote, “Pence then gavels President Trump as re-elected.” To say the least, it was a bold plan. 

(To put it plainly: it was flagrantly illegal.) 

 

In December and early January, the Defendant repeatedly spoke to VP Pence in private phone calls and kept repeating the same false claims. On Christmas Day, Pence called the Defendant to wish him a “Merry Christmas.” Trump again pressed him to toss out enough electoral votes to gift him the win. 

807. On January 1, the Defendant called Pence and berated him for opposing a lawsuit seeking to uphold the idea that the VP could reject certain electoral votes. “You’re too honest,” Trump complained. 

(No one ever said that about Donald, not even his mom.) 

 

On January 3, Trump again told his VP that he had “the absolute right to reject electoral votes and the ability to overturn the election.” 

808. Pence pointed out that “a federal appeals court had rejected the lawsuit making that claim the previous day.” 

 

809. On January 4, President Trump called Pence into a meeting, with Co-Conspirator 2 [Eastman], as well as two members of the Vice President’s team. During that meeting Trump again repeated false claims of election fraud. (Pence has contemporaneous notes.) Trump said he had “won every state.” He brought up the 205,000 votes, more than voters, in Pennsylvania again. At one point, Pence asked Eastman if his theory was even legally defensible. 

“Well, nobody’s tested it before,” Eastman replied. 

The VP then told the Defendant, “Did you hear that? Even your own counsel is not saying that I have that authority.” 

810. “That’s okay, I prefer the other suggestion,” Trump replied – meaning the idea that Pence could unilaterally reject electoral votes. 

(Using the same theory, Kamala Harris could f**k with the votes on January 6, 2025.) 

(That is: Kamala could make Kamala president, if she lost the popular vote!) 

(Who is so clueless as to think this would be fair?) 

 

811. In yet another meeting on January 5, Eastman admitted that if the U.S. Supreme Court were to review the argument (that the VP could throw out electoral votes) “it would be unanimously rejected.” 

Nevertheless, at 11:06 a.m., that day, Trump tweeted, “The Vice President has the power to reject fraudulently chosen electors.” 

 

“We hear you (and love you) from the Oval Office.” 

At 5:05 p.m. he tweeted again: “Washington is being inundated with people who don’t want to see an election victory stolen. … Our Country has had enough, they won’t take it anymore! We hear you (and love you) from the Oval Office.” 

Pence and Trump had a private meeting that evening. Pence said he wouldn’t do the president’s bidding. “Defendant grew frustrated and told the Vice President that the Defendant would have to publicly criticize him.” 

812. The VP’s chief of staff alerted Pence’s Secret Service detail, warning that the VP could be in danger the following day. 

813. Trump told aides that evening that the crowd on January 6 was going to be “angry.” Soon after, he issued a false statement. “The Vice President and I are in total agreement that the Vice President has the power to act.” 

(That was a particularly brazen lie – even for Donald J. Trump.) 

 

“You’re allowed to go by very different rules.” 

On January 6, at 11:15 a.m., Trump called Pence once again, and pressured him to throw out what prosecutors describe as “Biden’s legitimate electoral votes.” Pence again refused. From that point on, the Defendant would repeatedly claim that the VP had failed to perform his constitutional duty. 

814. During speeches at the “Save America Rally,” Rudy Giuliani falsely told the crowd, we “have letters from five legislatures begging us” to send elector slates back to them for review. 

815. Trump, himself, during his speech, claimed falsely that the Pennsylvania legislature wanted “to recertify their votes. They want to recertify. But the only way that can happen is if Mike Pence agrees to send it back.” 

816. Trump further stated that regular rules no longer applied. “And fraud,” he said, “breaks up everything, doesn’t it? When you catch somebody in a fraud, you’re allowed to go by very different rules.” 

Soon after, the violent attack on Congress began.

Accused rioter Gregory Yetman
allegedly seen spraying police with chemical irritants.

Trump apologists will later insist the rioters were "let in" by police.
Scene on January 6.

 

(To that point no significant voter fraud had ever been proven in court.) 

To this very day, October 14, 2024, 

1,441 days

since the 2020 election, no serious fraud ever has.

817. At 2:13 p.m. on January 6, the mob of Trump supporters broke through police lines and came close to seizing control of the Capitol. The Defendant’s advisors informed him that a riot was in progress, and the building had been breached. When the Defendant was urged to issue a calming message, he refused. He remarked repeatedly, that “the people at the Capitol were angry because the election had been stolen.” 

818-822. Trump rejected calls from his White House Chief Counsel, a Deputy White House Counsel, his Chief of Staff, a Deputy Chief of Staff, and a Senior Advisor to call for the rioters to leave the Capitol. 

As late as 4:17 p.m., Trump was still repeating “the knowingly false claim” that “we had an election stolen from us.” The Defendant later remarked, “See, this is what happens when they try to steal an election. These people are angry. These people are really angry about it. This is what happens.” 

At 6:01 p.m. he tweeted, “These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long.” He did add, anticlimactically, “Go home with love & in peace.” 

Then, “Remember this day forever!” 

(In infamy, surely.) 

 

That evening Trump tried to exploit the violence, placing calls to two U.S. senators (one of which went awry). He was still hoping they could thwart the final vote. 

823. Co-Conspirator 1 placed six additional calls to assorted lawmakers. He wanted them to stall the vote, at least “until the end of tomorrow.” In one of those calls, Giuliani repeated several false claims – even saying that illegal immigrants had “voted in substantial numbers in Arizona.” 

824. He insisted that in Georgia, 65,000 underaged people had voted. 

(Georgia election officials had already told Trump that was untrue.) 

(Seventeen-year-olds were allowed to register if they would turn 18 by Election Day.) 

 

“One more relatively minor violation.” 

825. As late as 11:44 p.m., in the wake of the attack on Capitol Hill, Co-Conspirator 2 was still emailing the VP – and asking Pence to break the law. “I implore you,” Dr. Eastman wrote, “to consider one more relatively minor violation [of the Electoral Count Act] and adjourn for 10 days to allow the legislatures to finish their investigations, as well as to allow a full forensic audit of the massive amount of illegal activity that has occurred here.” 

Not so much as a fragment of this imaginary “massive amount of illegal activity” has ever been proven in court. 

As a result, the former President of the United States, Donald John Trump, stands indicted on four more felony counts. 

Dr. Eastman, left, Rudy Giuliani, right.
Both men have been indicted in Georgia.

 

“Shouldn’t be anywhere near the Oval Office.” 

826. August 3, 2023: To know Trump is to fear him and what he might do if he returns to office. In an interview on CNN, as summarized in Vanity Fair, his former Attorney General, Bill Barr, rips the former president. Speaking to Kaitlan Collins, Barr says his old boss “knew well he lost the election” in 2020. Barr also says he believes Special Counsel Jack Smith has probably piled up plenty of evidence, regarding a conspiracy to overturn the results of that election. “We’re only seeing the tip of the iceberg on this,” Barr tells Collins. “I think there is a lot more to come, and I think they have a lot more evidence as to President Trump’s state of mind.” 

He calls Trump’s conduct, as described in the indictment, “nauseating” and “despicable,” adding that “someone who engaged in that kind of bullying [of other elected officials] about a process that is fundamental to our system and to our self-government shouldn’t be anywhere near the Oval Office.” 

 

827. Former Vice President Mike Pence is no more charitable in describing the nature of the plot that was to have culminated on January 6. During an interview later, with Fox News, he was blunt. The real plan was to overturn the results of the election. “Let’s be clear on this point,” he told Martha MacCallum. “It wasn’t that they asked for a pause. The president specifically asked me, and his gaggle of crackpot lawyers [emphasis added, unless otherwise noted] asked me, to literally reject votes which would have resulted in the issue being turned over to the House of Representatives and chaos would have ensued.” 

828. Mr. Pence admits he is not sure it can be proved “beyond a reasonable doubt” that Mr. Trump broke the law – that he was part of an active conspiracy. He does say the goal was clear. He was asked by his boss to overturn the results of the 2020 election. He was being asked to steal the vote. 

 

829. In a similar vein, Sen. Lisa Murkowski reacted to news that Donald has been indicted for a third time. First, she defended her vote to impeach him in January 2021. “Additional evidence presented since then,” she explained, “including by the January 6 Commission, has only reinforced that the former President played a key role in instigating the riots, resulting in physical violence and desecration of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.” 

Of course, she added, Trump is “innocent until proven guilty.” But she urged all thoughtful Americans to read the indictment “to understand the very serious allegations being made in this case.” 

 

830. August 4, 2023: The former president handles the situation with his usual maturity, issuing a warning to all who dare oppose him. Such as judges, juries, and potential witnesses. On Truth Social, Trump “truths” this gem: 

“IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!” 

(A reasonable person, understanding the rule of law, would be appalled.) 

 

831. Then he goes with this zany, authoritarian idea:

 

 

832. August 5, 2023: On Truth Social, Trump decides to trash another member of his administration, former Vice President Pence. As anyone might have predicted, Trump let rip with another juvenile insult:

 

WOW, it’s finally happened! Liddle’ Mike Pence, a man who was about to be ousted as Governor Indiana until I came along and made him V.P., has gone to the Dark Side. I never told a newly emboldened (not based on his 2% poll numbers!) Pence to put me above the Constitution, or that Mike was “too honest.” He’s delusional, and now he wants to show he’s a tough guy.  

 

Dear MAGA ladies and gentlemen: 

At this point, you would have to decide. Was Mr. Trump telling the truth, and was Mr. Pence telling the lies? Multiple members of the Trump administration had told the president he lost the 2020 election. 

And he’s still lying about winning today. 

Sad addendum.

 

As mentioned above, we will end this post with a list of just some of the people who have been threatened with death, simply for doing their jobs – but crossing Donald J. Trump, as he describes it, in some way.

 

1. Richard Barron, Fulton County, Georgia election official (singled out by Trump).

2. Jocelyn Benson, Michigan Secretary of State.

3. Seth Bluestein, deputy to Al Schmidt (below), who got anti-Semitic threats.

4 . Kathy Boockvar, Pennsylvania Secretary of State; like many on this list, she had to go into hiding.

 

5. Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich (as described above).

6. Dr. Eric Coomer, security director for Dominion Voting Systems.

7. Judge Tanya Chutkan (as described).

8. Judge Arhtur Engoron, who presided in the New York fraud trial against Mr. Trump

 

9. Ruby Freeman, low-level Georgia poll worker.

10. Jordan Fuchs, deputy to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

11. Jena Griswold, Colorado Secretary of State.

12. Allison Greenfield, Judge Engoron’s law clerk

13. Clint Hickman, Maricopa County Board of Supervisors (as above).

14. Katie Hobbs, then-Arizona Secretary of State.

15. Ralph Jones, Fulton County registration chief.

16. Four Colorado judges who ruled that Trump was ineligible to run for office after inciting the January 6 attack on Congress

 

17. Governor Brian Kemp of Georgia.

18. Kemp’s wife (not previously mentioned in any of my posts).

19. Kemp’s daughter

20. His other daughter

21. And…his other daughter

22. Christopher Krebs, head of the Department of Homeland Security’s cybersecurity unit (a Trump appointee).

 

23. Sheriff Pat Labat (as above).

24. Antonio Luna, employee of the Maricopa County, Arizona Elections Department.

 

25. Staci McElyea and other workers in the Nevada Secretary of State’s office.

26. Rep. Pete Meijer, who voted to impeach Trump.

27. Gen. Mark Milley, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

28. Shaye Moss, low-level Georgia poll worker, who got racist threats, as did her son.

 

29. Ms. Moss’s 14-year-old son.

30. Vice President Mike Pence.

31. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

32. Secretary Raffensperger’s wife, who also got sexualized threats.

33. Secretary Raffensperger’s daughter.

34. Stephen Richer

35. Richer’s family

36. Al Schmidt, Philadelphia city commissioner, a Republican singled out by Trump.

37. Schmidt’s wife.

38. Schmidt’s children.

39. Also, the other Philadelphia commissioner.

40. And the other, other city commissioner.

 

41. A senior election official for the City of Philadelphia.

42. Leslie Stahl, interviewer on 60 Minutes.

43. Gabriel Sterling, chief operating officer for Georgia Secretary of State.

44. Janice Winfrey, Detroit city clerk.

45. Milwaukee’s city election commissioner, Claire Woodall-Vogg.

46. Unnamed Arizona voting official (now wearing body armor).

47. Unnamed young Georgia poll worker.

48. Unnamed members of the Fulton County, Georgia voter education and outreach staff.

 

49. Unnamed workers at twelve Georgia polling places, prior to a special election, (bomb threat).

 

50. Twenty-three members of the Georgia grand jury that recommended indicting Trump. (The vote was 23-0.)

 

51. Unnamed Michigan electors, who voted to certify electoral votes for Biden.

52. Unnamed workers at the Vermont state election office.

53. Unnamed F.B.I. agents in Cincinnati (an armed man shows up at their office and is killed in a shootout).

 

54. President Joseph R. Biden Jr. 

 

Mark Meadows - pointing at the other guy who committed all the felonies?