Potential 'criminal intent' in Sidney Powell's plot to seize voting machines

Special counsel Jack Smith is reportedly looking into former President Donald Trump's interest in seizing voting machines as part of his effort to overturn his 2020 election loss.

Investigators want to know whether the former president chose to buy into baseless claims by Sidney Powell and Michael Flynn that alleged problems with the voting machines as a pretext to send the election back to Republican-controlled state governments, reported CBS News correspondent Robert Costa.

"I care about getting these machines," Trump said, according to Costa's previous reporting for the book Peril. "I want to get these machines and I have a right to do so under [the National Emergencies Act]."

The special counsel is examining how Rudy Giuliani, who has recently been interviewed by federal prosecutors and despised Powell and her allies, tried to pressure states to refuse to certify President Joe Biden's election win as Powell and Flynn were pressing Trump to seize voting machines.

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"As [the special counsel] explores whether there was provable criminal intent, it's becoming, at the least, a wide-ranging probe exploring how plots to overturn election developed, the sources said," Costa reported. "Whereas Rudy wanted to push states to have special sessions, the Powell group wanted [federal] power."

Smith's team is asking witnesses whether Trump allies knew at the time that the alternate electors scheme was fraudulent and that there were no problems with voting machines, and prosecutors want to know how these efforts fit into the scheme to pressure then-vice president Mike Pence to interfere with the certification of Biden's win at the Jan. 6, 2021, joint session of Congress.

"So while [the] 'use Pence' scheme is certainly also key part of probe, [the special counsel's] team clearly asking questions about WHAT ELSE was considered, how, and WHEN did Trump mention it and why, and how did he respond to [attorneys]?" Costa reported. "[Alternate] electors, seizing voting machines, pressuring state officials, etc."

Several individuals who were present for an infamous Dec. 18, 2020, meeting in the Oval Office have been cooperating with the Jan. 6 probe and have reportedly said they knew that Powell's suggestions were not true or legal, and investigators are examining Trump's response to that guidance from his attorneys to show his motivations and conduct.

Costa reported that none of his sources with knowledge of the investigation can say with confidence whether Smith will seek indictments or write up a report on that evidence, but they all agree the probe appears to be "serious."