Capitol attack panel obtains PowerPoint that set out plan for Trump to stage coup
Presentation turned over by Mark Meadows made several recommendations for Trump to pursue to retain presidency
Former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows turned over to the House select committee investigating the 6 January Capitol attack a PowerPoint recommending Donald Trump to declare a national security emergency in order to return himself to the presidency.
The fact that Meadows was in possession of a PowerPoint the day before the Capitol attack that detailed ways to stage a coup suggests he was at least aware of efforts by Trump and his allies to stop Joe Biden’s certification from taking place on 6 January.
The PowerPoint, titled “Election Fraud, Foreign Interference & Options for 6 Jan”, made several recommendations for Trump to pursue in order to retain the presidency for a second term on the basis of lies and debunked conspiracies about widespread election fraud.
Meadows turned over a version of the PowerPoint presentation that he received in an email and spanned 38 pages, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The Guardian reviewed a second, 36-page version of the PowerPoint marked for dissemination with 5 January metadata, which had some differences with what the select committee received. But the title of the PowerPoint and its recommendations remained the same, the source said.
Senators and members of Congress should first be briefed about foreign interference, the PowerPoint said, at which point Trump could declare a national emergency, declare all electronic voting invalid, and ask Congress to agree on a constitutionally acceptable remedy.
The PowerPoint also outlined three options for then vice-president Mike Pence to abuse his largely ceremonial role at the joint session of Congress on 6 January, when Biden was to be certified president, and unilaterally return Trump to the White House.
Pence could pursue one of three options, the PowerPoint said: seat Trump slates of electors over the objections of Democrats in key states, reject the Biden slates of electors, or delay the certification to allow for a “vetting” and counting of only “legal paper ballots”.
The final option for Pence is similar to an option that was simultaneously being advanced on 4 and 5 January by Trump lieutenants – led by lawyers Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman, as well as Trump strategist Steve Bannon – working from the Willard hotel in Washington DC.
The Guardian revealed last week that sometime between the late evening of 5 January and the early hours of 6 January, after Pence declined to go ahead with such plans, Trump then pressed his lieutenants about how to stop Biden’s certification from taking place entirely.
The recommendations in the PowerPoint for both Trump and Pence were based on wild and unsubstantiated claims of election fraud, including that “the Chinese systematically gained control over our election system” in eight key battleground states.
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Latest: Trump White House chief Mark Meadows turned over to Jan. 6 committee an email that referred to a PowerPoint calling for Trump to declare a NatSec emergency and have VP Pence delay Biden’s certification pic.twitter.com/D2wgLS6AoD
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) December 9, 2021
"Declare electronic voting in all states invalid, declare National Security Emergency."
A coup by any other name. https://t.co/vz1gyb1BBH
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) December 10, 2021
This is how close we came to a coup, and Eastman and Rudy and the other GOP seditionists can spare us their bullshit. This was a direct attack on the Constitution hatched in the White House. Yes, Pence gets credit for not doing it, but none for refusing to go public even now. https://t.co/a6WWtNFngy
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) December 12, 2021As Eastman and Trump pressure Pence and Pence's aides/lawyers, the rest of the Trump WH is in full-steam ahead mode that same day. See "Peril" chapter 41. "Graham was at the WH on January 4, where he received some memos supporting Trump's claims." We put those memos in the book.
— Robert Costa (@costareports) December 11, 2021Now, months after "Peril" was published, we are learning more about both Meadows and that key day, January *4th.*
Think of it as the set-up day for the eve of the insurrection, Jan. 5, when Bannon and Giuliani work from the Willard and Trump pressures Pence, 1 on 1, in Oval.
— Robert Costa (@costareports) December 11, 2021We now know that in the critical Jan. 4-5 period, where the pressure on Pence is Level 10/10, you have not only the principals leaning on the VP, but numerous docs circulating to make the case.
-Eastman memos
-PowerPoints
-And Jenna Ellis memos (see below)https://t.co/3sqREsCIWi
— Robert Costa (@costareports) December 11, 2021"If these people say you had the power, wouldn't you want to?" Trump asked.
"I wouldn't want any one person to have that authority," Pence said.
"But wouldn't it almost be cool to have that power?" Trump asked.
"No," Pence said.
/end
— Robert Costa (@costareports) December 11, 2021The current leader of one of America’s two parties tried to overthrow the last presidential election. This fact is still astonishing to me.
— John Dickerson (@jdickerson) December 10, 2021And millions of Americans couldn't care less https://t.co/XgLpZaOUcc
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) December 10, 2021
And millions of Americans couldn't care less https://t.co/XgLpZaOUcc
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) December 10, 2021
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