Trump Reportedly Played Direct Role In Exploring Possible Seizure Of Voting Machines By Federal Agencies

Topline

Weeks after election day, former president Donald Trump reportedly ordered his lawyer Rudy Giuliani to ask the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) if it could legally seize voting machines in key swing states, the New York Times reported, suggesting that the former president may have been more directly involved in the effort use federal agencies to help overturn the elections.

Key Facts

According to the New York Times, Trump urged Giuliani to examine the possibility after rejecting a similar suggestion by his outside advisers to have the Pentagon take control of the voting machines.

Before inquiring about the DHS route, Trump reportedly asked Attorney General William Barr on the possibility of the Justice Department seizing the voting machines, a suggestion that was immediately shot down by Barr.

While Giuliani’s effort to reach out to the Department of Homeland Security on this issue has been previously reported, Trump’s direct involvement in the issue was unknown.

The NYT report suggests that the former president both directly participated in and even backed plans exploring the possible seizure of voting machines.

Trump’s advisers had reportedly drafted an executive order to carry out the proposed DHS route along with a previously reported draft order that would have tasked the Department of Defense with seizing voting machines.

A retired army colonel named Phil Waldron reportedly played a key role in pushing the idea of using a federal agency to confiscate voting machines and examine them for possible irregularities.

Key Background

Last month, Politico first reported about the existence of a never-issued executive order that would have ordered the Pentagon to seize voting machines. The draft document reportedly emerged during a congressional investigation into the January 6 Capitol riot. The three page draft executive order would have instructed the secretary of defense to “seize, collect, retain and analyze” an unspecified number of voting machines and then submit a report of any possible irregularities within 60 days. The suggested sixty day deadline would have come weeks after the end of President Donald Trump’s term. The draft document justified the seizure using a list of unproven, vague or debunked voter fraud narratives, including the false claim that several voting machines are controlled by foreign entities and designed to rig elections.

Tangent

On Sunday, Trump repeated a false claim that Mike Pence, the former vice president, had the power and authority to overturn the election, something the former president had asked his deputy to do. The statement was in response to a bipartisan effort to make changes to the Electoral Count Act. On of the changes reportedly under consideration is the explicit outlining of the fact that the vice president can only play a ceremonial in the vote counting process.

Further Reading

Trump Had Role in Weighing Proposals to Seize Voting Machines (New York Times)

Executive Order Reportedly Drafted For Trump To Seize Voting Machines (Forbes)