N.E. Brigand wrote: ↑Wed Aug 02, 2023 12:22 am I think some kudos may be due to Seth Abramson because, as I recall, he was arguing pretty early on that, contra claims that President Trump merely considered appointing Jeffrey Clark to the role of Acting Attorney General, as see, e.g., the summary of that incident in Wikipedia:
...that all the evidence indicated that Trump did effectively appoint Clark to that role. And the indictment says that's what happened: Clark "accepted the Defendant's offer that he become the Acting Attorney General."Attempted appointment as Acting Attorney General
Also in January, Trump considered replacing Rosen with Clark, because he was disappointed that Rosen would not support his unsupported claims of fraud, while Clark had worked on ways to cast doubt on, or even overturn, the election results. Trump expected that if Clark became acting attorney general, he would reverse the decisions of previous attorneys general and publicly declare that DOJ had serious concerns about the election results. ...
Voronwë the Faithful wrote: ↑Wed Aug 02, 2023 12:26 am Regardless of what Wikipedia says, that was long known, including by the January 6th committee.
Looking back at this, I think I was mixing up this incident with President Trump's appointment or intended appointment of Sidney Powell as Special Counsel. Wikipedia says that at a Dec. 18, 2020 White House meeting, "Trump suggested naming Powell as a special counsel to investigate allegations of election fraud. Most Trump advisors opposed the idea, while Powell characterized them as quitters. The meeting was reportedly heated and included Flynn's proposal for the president to declare martial law." Abramson wrote in late 2021 (I think it was) that his reading of the evidence was that Trump did indeed appoint Powell to this role (and that unlike the appointment of Clark, the appointment was never rescinded). I don't know if the Jan. 6th Committee or anyone else ever made a final determination on the matter.N.E. Brigand wrote: ↑Wed Aug 02, 2023 12:28 am Ah sorry, I guess I had missed that. Kyle Cheney seemed to treat it as new information tonight.
Edited to add that Kyle Cheney today noted that Jeff Clark's attorney asserted this week that Clark was indeed appointed as Acting Attorney General, although Clark himself has not testified about this, and "Clark’s former colleagues are skeptical, noting that the appointment couldn’t be effectuated without paperwork and some sort of formal acknowledgment that was never made."