Tuesday thread: Trump attempted to seize voting machines in 2020

Now there's evidence he was directly involved, pressuring DOJ & DHS to carry out. Comes after a weekend in which he inspired mass violence and promised pardons to 1/6 insurrectionists.

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We knew from weeks ago, per the January 6th select committee, that there was an attempt by those around Donald Trump to use the Pentagon to seize voting machines in the weeks after the election. A draft executive order would have had the U.S. military go into the states to round up machines.

But it appeared that the effort didn’t get far, though it was alarming in and of itself that a draft order was created.

Now The New York Times reveals that Trump, who apparently pushed aside using the military after first considering it, had in fact directed Rudy Giuliani to get the Department of Homeland Security to seize voting machines. This came after he tried to get Bill Barr and the Department of Justice to seize the machines in the states.

Mr. Trump pressed Mr. Giuliani to make that inquiry after rejecting a separate effort by his outside advisers to have the Pentagon take control of the machines. And the outreach to the Department of Homeland Security came not long after Mr. Trump, in an Oval Office meeting with Attorney General William P. Barr, raised the possibility of whether the Justice Department could seize the machines, a previously undisclosed suggestion that Mr. Barr immediately shot down.

Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1

BREAKING NYT: Trump was more directly involved than previously known in exploring proposals to use his national security agencies to seize voting machines. Trump raised it with Bill Barr in the Oval. He also directed Giuliani to call DHS about it.

nytimes.comTrump Had Role in Weighing Proposals to Seize Voting MachinesNew accounts show that the former president was more directly involved than previously known in plans developed by outside advisers to use national security agencies to seek evidence of fraud.

This comes weeks after the January 6th committee has ramped up its investigation and revealed that it has obtained a great deal of data, witness testimony and evidence. It also comes after investigations have moved forward in Fulton County, Georgia, regarding Trump intimidating election officials there, and in New York City (by the Manhattan DA) and New York State (by the attorney general) investigating Trump’s businesses and tax fraud.

After last weekend’s speech in Texas in which Trump intimidated investigators by inciting violence against the Georgia and New York prosecutors and the Congressional committee — calling for mass “protests” in New York, Georgia and Washington, DC — should they continue their investigations, it’s clear Trump knows that much more is coming out and that he’s guilty of crimes and will be charged.

That had him also promising in the speech to pardon any of the January 6th insurrectionists — his co-conspirators — if he is elected president again.

The message was clear, and one he’s given in the past to others he pardoned: Don’t tell them anything, and work hard for me, doing whatever it takes, and I’ll reward you.

We’re in a very dangerous time, and need action immediately.