Voter Fraud Hits Trumpworld
“I was part of the process” for “alternate electors”
Hi all - Ari here. Today’s newsletter is on alternate electors, voter fraud, and an interesting admission on The Beat. You can always subscribe to my full newsletter here:
The fraud underneath the failed coup
Donald Trump tried to steal the election in several ways. One of the more outlandish, but real, efforts was led by his lawyers to recruit and put forward fraudulent electors for Trump in states Biden won.
That plot is now under investigation as a federal crime.
A top DOJ official, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, has now confirmed an ongoing investigation of the electors plot, in an interview with CNN.
That is a separate track from the open investigation in Congress, which recently subpoenaed several of these people claiming to be victorious Trump electors — and which previously subpoenaed Trump lawyers involved in this and other alleged election misconduct.
The committee is probing how the electors fit into a larger, “comprehensive plan to overthrow the 2020 election,” as Rep. Jamie Raskin recently explained.
Some of the lawyers have gone quiet.
Some appear to be exploring their options to limit or evade testimony. (They may have more lawful avenues to avoid testimony, as lawyers for the Campaign and Trump, then other people facing subpoenas.)
And some have spoken out since they got their subpoenas.
“Part of the process”
That brings us to Boris Epshteyn, a Trump Campaign lawyer and White House veteran.
He admitted to working on the electors plot, and said Giuliani led it, in a recent interview with me. (The admission made headlines like “Former Trump campaign adviser acknowledges being part of 2020 'alternate electors' plot” and “Ari Melber Gets Navarro and Epshteyn to Further Incriminate Themselves”).
Epshteyn told me he “was part of the process to make sure there were alternate electors,” a plan carried out “under the leadership of Rudy Giuliani.”
The apparent plot was to have fraudulent electors send fake certificates claiming to certify Trump as the “winner” of states he lost.
That is a long way from an action that would actually operate to cancel an election, but it appears Trump operatives hoped to combine it with contesting or delaying the national certification on January 6—to then create more confusion or doubt about the outcome, and further challenge the transition of power on January 20. (This connects with Trump aide Peter Navarro’s admission about a “non-violent” coup plan to keep Trump in office.)
The investigations may yield far more information about these plots, and whether they crossed legal lines. It’s already clear the organized, high-level plots for a coup went far beyond the horrific violence at the Capitol on January 6.
P.S. If you’re curious, you can watch my full interview with Epshteyn here:
As well as interviews with other Trump collaborators Peter Navarro here and Dustin Stockton here.
And check out some other media coverage of the interviews here and here.
Ari, you deserve another Emmy for your coup coverage. First-rate journalism.
Thanks Ari. Your interview with Boris Epshteyn was incredible. Had to pick my jaw up off the table. Alternate electors sounds so similar to alternative facts. Seems to be a consistent theme.