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Former Trump aide brazenly admits to fake elector scheme on national TV -- but says 'everything was done legally'
January 21, 2022
A former White House aide admitted Friday night on national TV that he helped organize a campaign to submit fake electoral certificates from several states that falsely claimed former president Donald Trump won the 2020 election.
Boris Epshteyn, who was subpoenaed this week by the House Select Committee investigating the Capitol insurrection, told MSNBC: "Yes, I was part of the process to make sure there were alternate electors for when, as we hoped, the challenges to the seated electors would be heard and be successful."
Epshteyn went on to claim that "everything that was done was done legally, by the Trump legal team, according to the rules, and under the leadership of (Trump lawyer) Rudy Giuliani."
CNN first reported Thursday that Giuliani "oversaw efforts in December 2020 to put forward illegitimate electors from seven states that Trump lost, according to three sources with direct knowledge of the scheme."
"The sources said members of former President Donald Trump's campaign team were far more involved than previously known in the plan, a core tenet of the broader plot to overturn President Joe Biden's victory when Congress counted the electoral votes on January 6," CNN reported.
At least two state attorneys general have referred investigations into the fake electoral certificates to the Department of Justice.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, has said she believes those who signed the certificates violated multiple state and federal laws.
Clips from Epshteyn's interview and reactions below.
That's a confession of participating in a criminal conspiracy.https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1484672337916010496\u00a0\u2026— Mark (Non-Fungible) Mucci (@Mark (Non-Fungible) Mucci) 1642811439
Epshteyn: Everything that was done was done… under the leadership of Rudy Giuliani pic.twitter.com/GX6yQCaKbk
— Acyn (@Acyn) January 21, 2022
That sound you hear is Epshteyn's lawyers collectively running for the door. https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1484672337916010496\u00a0\u2026— Katie S. Phang (@Katie S. Phang) 1642810109
Lock him up!https://twitter.com/acyn/status/1484672337916010496\u00a0\u2026— JGoodman (@JGoodman) 1642810696
\u201cAlternate electors\u201d are the electoral college cousins of Kellyanne\u2019s alternative facts. Much less of a mouthful would just be fake or fraudulent.https://twitter.com/acyn/status/1484672337916010496\u00a0\u2026— Lesley Abravanel (@Lesley Abravanel) 1642810601
Judge: Did you steal the money?\nBank robber: I took alternate ownership of the funds.https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1484672337916010496\u00a0\u2026— David Corn (@David Corn) 1642809683
The "genius" of Trump is apparently if you are powerful and public admit to your crime without shame it won't be treated like a crime. But the man just admitted to election fraud on TV. Should be open and shut case.https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1484672337916010496\u00a0\u2026— Jon Walker (@Jon Walker) 1642809294
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'Horrible week for the former president': CNN panel debates which new legal threat will hurt Trump the most
January 21, 2022
On Friday's edition of CNN's "The Situation Room," chief political analyst Gloria Borger and chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin discussed the biggest legal liabilities to former President Donald Trump.
"What do you make of this draft executive order instructing the Defense Secretary to actually go out and seize voting machines?" asked anchor Wolf Blitzer.
"Well, it is more evidence about what the state of mind was inside that White House. It is more evidence pointing to the fact that people were interested in promoting a coup," said Borger. "When you look at what happened this week, Wolf, take a look at the committee. Winning that really important case in the Supreme Court. Getting the 700 packages of documents. I'm told there's possibly more to come from archives. This is a committee trying to reconstruct what happened the day before January 6, for those 187 minutes on January 6 before Donald Trump acted and the aftermath of January 6."
"A lot of legal problems for the former president," said Blitzer. "Let's discuss this horrible week for the former president, Jeffrey. Which poses the biggest threat to Trump?"
"Georgia and New York both," said Toobin. "We talked about time pressures on Congress, but it is worth pointing out that in both Georgia and New York there are not particular time pressures. James will be there and the new district attorney in Manhattan, they are both — they have years to conduct this investigation and proceeding methodically. Donald Trump is the target clearly of both. James is with the new district attorney Bragg in Manhattan, a criminal case. The Georgia case is a criminal case. And they are both serious and ramping up."
Watch below:
Gloria Borger and Jeffrey Toobin discuss Trump's legal exposure www.youtube.com
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Trump-loving GOP chair pushes unhinged conspiracy about schools supplying 'litter boxes’ for student ‘furries’
January 21, 2022
A Michigan superintendent on Thursday debunked a conspiracy theory — pushed by the co-chair of the state Republican Party, among others — that schools were providing "litter boxes" in bathrooms for students who identify as "furries."
“It is unconscionable that this afternoon I am sending this communication,” Midland Public Schools (MPS) Superintendent Michael E. Sharrow wrote on Facebook. “However, our Midland PS stakeholders may be confused about a false message/accusation that has resurfaced this week and is gaining traction in the social media realm.”
According to the accusation, "litter boxes were provided within MPS student restrooms for those who identify themselves as ‘furries,'" Sharrow wrote.
“Let me be clear in this communication," Sharrow wrote. "There is no truth whatsoever to the this false statement/accusation! There have never been litter boxes within MPS schools. It is a source of disappointment that I felt the necessity to communicate this message to you.”
According to the Morning Sun, a “furry” is "someone who role-plays or identifies as an animal, or an animal character with human-like characteristics."
The newspaper reported that the conspiracy theory began during a school board meeting on Dec. 20, when a parent claimed that a school unisex bathroom included "a litter box, for the kids who identify as cats.”
“I am really disturbed by that,” the parent said. “I will do some more investigation on that.”
Michigan GOP Co-Chair Meshawn Maddock promoted the conspiracy theory on Thursday.
"Kids who identify as ‘furries’ get a litter box in the school bathroom," she wrote on her official Facebook page above a video from the school board meeting. "Parent heroes will TAKE BACK our schools.”
Maddock was among 16 Republicans who signed a fake electoral certificate declaring the former president Donald Trump won Michigan in 2020.
Watch a clip from the school board meeting below.
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