In the seventh hearing for the bipartisan January 6th Committee, important legal points were made that show that Trump’s legal team (Rudy Giuliani et al) knew there was not actual evidence of widespread fraud and that there was not sufficient evidence to prove the election was actually stolen. They lied in their efforts to steal the election for Donald Trump.
Within all of the testimony corroborating that they all knew there was not proof of election fraud that would overturn the election, evidence was presented that Mark Meadows knew that Trump lost and yet went ahead to push to obstruct Congressional proceedings.
If this is true, his efforts were corrupt.
Former White House counsel Pat Cipollone testified that there was not sufficient evidence of election fraud and that Trump should concede the election.
He also testified that Mark Meadows assured him and then AG Bill Barr that the president would agree to a graceful exit, more than one time.
Cipollone said that Mark Meadows said multiple times that Trump should concede. pic.twitter.com/3UqpcB4qXv
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) July 12, 2022
Cipollone said at some point you have to “put up or shut up.” He said their plan about having the federal government seize voting machines is such a terrible idea, he doesn’t know why he would even have to explain why it’s such a bad idea.
Former Mark Meadows’ aide Cassidy Hutchinson testified that former DNI John Radcliffe had said he was worried about things becoming dangerous for our democracy or on January 6th. She said she perceived his goal was to keep Trump in office, and “When he began acknowledging that maybe there wasn’t enough voter fraud to overturn the election, I witnessed him start to explore potential constitutional loopholes more extensively. Which then connected with John Eastman’s theories.”
This is a potential legal threat for Meadows in the form of criminal exposure if he knew that Trump lost and still attempted to help Trump obstruct Congressional proceedings. If Meadows knew, which testimony provides ample evidence that he did, that Trump lost and yet went ahead to push to overturn the election, his efforts were corrupt.
“Cipollone’s testimony points to Meadows’ criminal exposure. Evidence that Meadows knew full well Trump lost, and it was and should be over.
In those and following weeks, Mark Meadows ran point in helping to ‘corruptly’ obstruct congressional proceedings.Corrupt if knew lost,” Ryan Goodman, former Special Counsel for the Department of Defense tweeted over this video:
Barr told the January 6 committee that Trump should have acknowledged the election was over in mid-December. Cipollone testified that Mark Meadows shared those sentiments. pic.twitter.com/7wlatHJuFO
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 12, 2022
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Cipollone testified that he walked in to the Oval Office at one point after Trump’s loss and saw General Michael Flynn, Sydney Powell and the Overstock person (former CEO Patrick Byrne). He wasn’t happy to see these people because they weren’t providing good advice.
Rudy Giuliani’s own team knew there wasn’t evidence of fraud or even if there were, that there wasn’t enough evidence to support any of their stolen election claims. Giuliani even reportedly said he had a lot of theories, but not a lot of evidence.
Raskin, “Even Rudy Giuliani’s own legal team knew before January six that they hadn’t collected enough actual evidence to support any of their stolen election claims.” pic.twitter.com/m0XX5qd2rm
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) July 12, 2022
“To say that it was thin is probably an understatement,” Trump aide Jason Miller testified regarding evidence of election fraud. Justin Clark, Trump’s deputy campaign manager, testified that Giuliani’s team never produced evidence of election fraud.
December 14th should have been the end of the matter, Bill Barr testified. Barr said the public was believing crazy things like that their votes didn’t count and that these machines had stolen their votes.
Barr said Trump said something like, “We could get to the bottom of this if the Department seized the machines.” Barr refused to seize the machines.
The Trump team went so far as to draft an executive order to seize state voting machines via the Department of Defense and appoint a special counsel (Sydney Powell) who could even prosecute people.
For more evidence that everyone in the administration knew Trump had lost and legal means to hold on to power were lost, Kayleigh McEnany, former White House Press Secretary, said that after litigation failed, she began to plan for life after the administration. Trump aide and adult daughter Ivanka Trump said that after December 14th when the electors met and showed that Biden had won, it was her sentiment and “probable prior” that it was the end. Judd Deere, former Trump deputy Press Secretary, said “the means for him to pursue litigation was probably closed.”
The January 6th Committee presented ample evidence that everyone in Trump World knew he had lost and that there was no legal and Constitutional door open for them to challenge the outcome of the 2020 election.
This means that Mark Meadows knew Trump had lost when he assisted Trump in his efforts to obstruct Congressional proceedings. Meadows was previously cited for contempt by the committee, but the Department of Justice declined to prosecute Meadows.
Many Trump foot soldiers have been prosecuted for their execution of the 1/6 attack on our democracy, but none of the higher-ups who actually incited and organized it have. If Mark Meadows were anyone but a former Trump administration elite, he would be indicted for his part in the domestic terrorist attack of January 6th.
(This article was written during the July 12th, 2022 January 6th Committee hearing and published before it concluded.)
Ms. Jones is the co-founder/ editor-in-chief of PoliticusUSA and a member of the White House press pool.
Sarah hosts Politicus News and co-hosts Politicus Radio. Her analysis has been featured on several national radio, television news programs and talk shows, and print outlets including Stateside with David Shuster, as well as The Washington Post, The Atlantic Wire, CNN, MSNBC, The Week, The Hollywood Reporter, and more.
Sarah is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.