Trump suggested naming Sidney Powell as special counsel on election in Oval Office meeting, reports say
During a White House meeting Friday, President Donald Trump floated the idea of naming conservative attorney Sidney Powell as a special counsel to investigate his election loss to President-elect Joe Biden, according to multiple media reports.
In the Oval Office meeting, which was first reported by The New York Times, Trump discussedwith his advisers the possibility of appointing Powell to investigate election fraud claims and to potentially seize voting machines that Trump claimed were rigged against him.
Most of the advisers at the White House meeting, which included Powell, opposed the ideas. According to the Times, among those objecting to the suggestion of Powell as special counsel were Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani – who joined by phone – White House counsel Pat Cipollone and chief of staff Mark Meadows.
According to Politico, the debate grew heated and voices were raised.
The White House did not respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment.
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Powell worked with the campaign to challenge election results in several states, including Michigan. Giuliani and Trump campaign attorney Jenna Ellis distanced the campaign from Powell after she publicly made outlandish and unfounded claims of election fraud.
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Trump has continued to claim he won the election, making unsubstantiated voter fraud claims and trying to overturn the results. Powell, along with other staunch supporters and allies of the president, encouraged and echoed his allegations of fraud, though evidence has been lacking and courts have rejected the challenges.
The appointment of a special counsel would have to be carried out by the attorney general or an act of Congress. The Associated Press reported that Trump asked his team of lawyers, including Giuliani, about whether the president has the power to appoint one himself.
Attorney General William Barr announced his resignation last week. The president said Barr, who declared the Justice Department had found no evidence of widespread voter fraud, will leave his post Dec. 23.
Former national security adviser Michael Flynn was in attendance at the White House on Friday, where Trump asked him about the idea of invoking martial law, according to the Times. The Wall Street Journal and CNN also reported that the idea of martial law was discussed but did not specify who raised it or how Trump viewed it. All the reports said the suggestion was rejected.
Trump denied the reports about the discussion of martial law in a tweet early Sunday, but he did not dispute any other aspects of the reports about the meeting.
That tweet came immediately after one in which he insulted his former national security adviser John Bolton, who told CNN he found it “appalling” martial law had reportedly been considered.
“What would Bolton, one of the dumbest people in Washington, know?” Trump tweeted.
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Flynn was pardoned by Trump after pleading guilty to lying to the FBI. He was represented by Powell in his efforts to reverse his guilty plea.
During Friday’s Oval Office meeting, Powell and Flynn reportedly pushed for Trump and the administration to do more to overturn Biden’s election win.
In response to Flynn’s remarks on martial law, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy and Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville issued a joint statement saying there “is no role for the U.S. military in determining the outcome of an American election.”
