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
