Trump Had Role in Weighing Proposals to Seize Voting Machines

[swag]

Source: New York Times

By Alan Feuer, Maggie Haberman, Michael S. Schmidt and Luke Broadwater
Jan. 31, 2022, 10:41 p.m. ET

Six weeks after Election Day, with his hold on power slipping, President Donald J. Trump directed his lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, to make a remarkable call. Mr. Trump wanted him to ask the Department of Homeland Security if it could legally take control of voting machines in key swing states, three people familiar with the matter said.

Mr. Giuliani did so, calling the department’s deputy director, who said he lacked the authority to audit or impound the machines.

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.

The new accounts show that Mr. Trump was more directly involved than previously known in exploring proposals to use his national security agencies to seize voting machines as he grasped unsuccessfully for evidence of fraud that would help him reverse his defeat in the 2020 election, according to people familiar with the episodes.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/31/us/politics/trump-election-fraud.html?unlocked_article_code=AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACEIPuomT1JKd6J17Vw1cRCfTTMQmqxCdw_PIxftm3iWka3DMDm0biPkORJCH_0bRZKF4IMcpwjGDAdJFPbQzRft0i-FFNlFhDQm0p5_O0LI0HxIIk6PhFGUnw8CKGrki7T7hamT-Jexzm-HitEzDPjK-WbjYhHJxOAdnppd6IAr833AKk6fBQrQiycA-ial6fu1yQDkCZSSOv_b6WV4paJjdMEaqukRhUPpZWDrTgdec97sDFQxTAl_BR359in0uvJIeYJhEefaicGNzPZb2kr4TCWd3LY22BpdXRoLckrlitLelugVVcVpv9oeIlS0zSslJ2kOe&smid=url-share

[Drum]

1. Why...Ms Haberman!

Drum, disbelieving, swoons.

Thanks swag!

[Hugh_Lebowski]

3. She blowing your mind, man?

I'm kinda trippin' too

[Drum]

4. Right?

[Hugh_Lebowski]

2. The only thing more pathetic than IQ45's desperate attempt to hold on to power

is his demented acolyte's continuing support for their fucking wannabe Fuhrer.

[Botany]

5. Trump was desperate because once out of office he knew that he was going to be prosecuted on a ...

... number of civil and criminal charges.

Even Bill Barr wanted no part of this madness.

"The meeting with Mr. Barr took place in mid- to late November when Mr. Trump raised the idea of whether the Justice Department could be used to seize machines, according to two people familiar with the matter. Mr. Trump told Mr. Barr that his lawyers had told him that the department had the power to seize machines as evidence of fraud.

Mr. Trump mentioned a specific state that had used machines built by Dominion Voting Systems, where his lawyers believed there had been fraud, although it is unclear which state Mr. Trump was referring to. Mr. Barr, who had been briefed extensively at that point by federal law enforcement officials about how the theories being pushed by Mr. Trump’s legal team about the Dominion machines were unfounded, told Mr. Trump that the Justice Department had no basis for seizing the machines because there was no probable cause to believe a crime had been committed."



For God's sake A.G. Garland make a call to TFG tomorrow morning and tell him to cut the threats of violence or the
spreading of lies that could lead to violence right now or that you will come and slap the cuffs on him personally.

[BigmanPigman]

6. Is AG Garland doing anything at all so far?

No one on the Jan 6 Committee, legal experts, politicians, etc have no idea what Garland is waiting for. I stand with them. I want to see proof that Garland is doing a single god damned thing!!!! And don't reply with the usual standard, "But we don't know what Garland is doing secretly" line of BS. I was fairly patient with Mueller and look where that got us. I am all out of patience when it comes to the people who are supposed to be protecting the rule of law and not the fucking moron.

[Chin music]

8. +1z

And I stand w you my friend.
Where's Garland? How about another public update erm,...tongue lashing for the public? Or is it a one and done deal? Were he a local prosecutor? He'd been canned 9 months ago. Justice is swift....(and amazingly effective) in these parts. We are getting Muellered here. I can feel it.
What's the latest? The Archive Police are supposed to pick up the slack? Delegate a new investigation? Fuck me running.
Just a little 'opinion-ating' here.

[Gilbert Moore]

12. This is how Garland works

Start from the bottom and flip your way to the top. He led the Oklahoma bombing prosecution. No leaks. Just indictments. Let him be.

[Chin music]

14. Justice dies in the dark.

And the damage in the meantime will be irreparable imo.

[gab13by13]

15. I have come to the realization that the inaction isn't from lack of evidence,

there is a lot of evidence out there that warrants DOJ investigation. No, I believe that Garland is going out of his way to not appear partisan. Garland isn't going to even investigate politicians, former Trump advisors, former Trump cabinet members, or Trump.

What evidence do I have? Today is day 48 since the select committee issued the Mark Meadows criminal referral. Garland should at least let the country know if he won't prosecute Meadows because I gave away all of my guns when I stopped hunting and I need to know if the Magats will not be held accountable so that I can defend myself.

We just had the former defeated president publicly threaten the public officials who are investigating him. We just had the former president throw out pardons to whoever wants to break the law defending him. Any defendants now know they will get pardoned so they don't have to cooperate.

The only people who have been arrested have been associated with the riot part of the coup.

[Lonestarblue]

17. The Oklahoma City bombing happened in 1995-nearly 27 years ago.

The news cycle is different today, much faster and much more slanted for Republicans. I can appreciate the time it takes to gather solid facts, but it’s been more than a year and the lack of any knowledge of what the DOJ is doing with respect to the plotters and funders of the January 6 insurrection allows people to jump to the conclusion that nothing is going on because there were no crimes committed, other than by those who stormed the Capitol.

That hurts the country in a couple of ways. First, it makes the House Jan. 6 Committee appear more partisan because they appear to be the only ones investigating and collecting evidence of criminal actions. Second, it gives Republican supporters of the Big Lie ammunition to say that the DOJ is not investigating, therefore nothing wrong happened. And, with no information from the DOJ, right-wing media has moved on and downplayed the severity of the insurrection. Mainstream media a knowledges the lie but still supports Trump and Republican talking points. The danger is now the same as with the Mueller Report—it took too long to produce and then Barr was able to turn it into a non-event by redacting most of it and lying about its implications. By delaying, Garland is helping people, especially Republicans bent on stealing elections, assume that they have no proof that Trump and his immediate circle from Hell did anything wrong, and thus they are free to act with no repercussions. Even a leak that a Grand Jury has been sequestered would let people know that something is happening without giving away any real information about who is the target.

I was encouraged to see at least some interest by the DOJ in the fake slates of electors created by swing state Republicans. I hope that results in some serious repercussions, and well before the 2022 elections. Unscrupulous Republican election officials need a clear message that their wrongful actions can result in punishment.

[hamsterjill]

23. Well said.

Time for the criminal to be charged. He should NOT be above the law and I'm tired of people not insisting that.

Garland needs to move or be removed and let someone else take over who is willing to prosecute Trump.

[Alexander Of Assyria]

7. Trump told Barr his lawyers...the Krakenheads of Four Seasons Lanscaping fame...lol.

Barr must have wavered between laughter to tears, wanting to punch the idiot dictator in the mouth.
Probably settled on making his escape plans and preparing his sworn testimony.

[L. Coyote]

10. If I were Barr, I would have begun gathering the evidence.

Which he likely did knowing he'd have no other way to redeem his own ass.

[Botany]

11. Barr covered up the Mueller report for TFG and protected him on other things too but ...

... even for a shit and a professional republican clean up guy .... remember Iran Contra? ... this was just
too much and he had told TFG to his face that there was nothing there with the voting machines. Just like
TFG's "real lawyers" from Porter Wright all jumped from TFG and his idiot law suits about the elections in
all those states when they realized that they were being asked to suborn perjury and that would cost them
their law licenses.

[monkeyman1]

9. he had his greasy little paw's in everything!! come on !!!

[Roy Rolling]

13. Such a Technological Moron

“Seize the machines!” What a stupid idea, right behind “seize the server in Ukraine!” It’s comical, Trump’s concept of technology with a 1960s brain.

[gab13by13]

16. It's not comical,

I saw video last night of 2 Michigan candidates, one running for governor and the other running for state Senator. One of them said when voting go armed and the other one said if you see something suspicious unplug the voting machines. Those are the commands that Magats have been issued.

[NurseJackie]

18. I would have been surprised if it had been otherwise.

[Deminpenn]

19. The talking legal heads on cable always

mention that any prosecution of Trump for the actions on Jan 6th require a "mens rea", intention or knowledge of what he was doing was wrong. All this information coming out now in addition to Trump's own recent comments show he did intend to do wrong, imo.

[Alexander Of Assyria]

21. Yes...beyond a shadow of a doubt...malicious intent to destroy democracy has been proven...

just on the public disclosure…what evidence lies beneath the tip of the iceberg?

And don’t forget this is the President…who owes a higher and extra duties by virtue of the Oath of Office….not even sure need to prove intent on 5is or lessor charges..just standing aside and letting it happen, or encouraging it…giving aid and comfort to insurrectionists…well, that’s not very Presidential, it’s criminal…crimes only a president can be charged with…and will be.

[GB_RN]

20. Is ANYONE Really Surprised By This?

It’s just typical Dolt45 behavior.

[Alexander Of Assyria]

22. Shocked, not surprised..way beyond surprised...aren't u shocked?? Guy is seditious conspirator.

[JohnnyRingo]

25. I suggest DUers read the entire article.

This snippet only wets the beak of what was going on behind the scenes of the coup. If it weren't for the resistance of those around him he likely would have pulled it off, or at least forestalled the election process and thrown the country into electoral chaos.

If the Feds, Justice dept, and Congress do their jobs half as well as the investigators at the NYT Trump will be going down for the count.

[Bayard]

26. Former prosecutors

When even former prosecutors--Adam Schiff, for instance--is frustrated with Garland's lack of action, we need a report from the Justice Dept on what they are doing/not doing. Democracy is dying here.