That prompted pushback from the former White House counsel Patrick Cipollone, who had joined the meeting with former White House staff secretary, Derek Lyons, who supported Cipollone’s claim that Trump lacked the constitutional authority to take such measures.īyrne made another attempt to convince Trump to appoint Powell as special counsel and have Flynn act as “field marshal” to coordinate her efforts. Powell and Newman told Trump that he could rely on that order and classified National Security Presidential Memoranda 13 and 21 – cyber-security memos referenced in Powell’s draft executive order – to have the national guard seize voting machines. Trump first reviewed the draft executive order and documents brought by Powell, including a physical copy of Trump’s executive order 13848 that authorized sweeping powers in the event of foreign election interference, as she ran through the supposed legality of suspending normal law. Eric Herschmann, a White House senior adviser, slipped in behind them. In a statement, Byrne said Trump had called the group into the Oval Office after he saw Flynn, his former national security adviser, with the rest of the group about 25ft from the room.
It is understood that the four were not registered in the West Wing guest access system as meeting with the former president, which may have violated national security protocols. The group had not scheduled an audience with Trump, but after Byrne messaged an acquaintance, they were cleared to enter the White House by Garrett Ziegler, a policy aide to former Trump advisor Peter Navarro, and Patrick Weaver, an aide with the National Security Council. Trump was handed the document when he sat down with four informal advisers – Powell, Trump’s former national security advisor Michael Flynn, former Trump aide Emily Newman and former Overstock chief executive Patrick Byrne – who had arrived at the White House unannounced. It was recently turned over to the select committee by the National Archives after the supreme court rejected Trump’s appeal to block its release. The draft executive order seen by Trump was retained automatically by the White House as a presidential record. Another version, obtained by CNN, empowered the Department of Homeland Security instead of the Department of Defense.īut all versions included language that would have allowed Trump to appoint a special counsel to investigate claims of foreign interference in the 2020 election, which the Department of Justice had already determined were without foundation.
An early version of the document was published by Politico. The draft executive order Trump reviewed was one of the final versions Powell had prepared. But four sources with detailed knowledge of what transpired during the 18 December meeting described to the Guardian how close he came to doing so.
Trump never followed through with issuing a formal executive order authorizing the seizure of voting machines or appointing a special counsel. The two previously unreported actions of the former president – which are certain to interest the House select committee investigating the Capitol attack and Trump’s efforts to overturn his defeat – came during a contentious White House meeting on 18 December 2020.
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