Former White House chief of staff texted voter fraud conspiracy theorist
Former Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-Va.) says that text messages between former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and top conspiracy theorists seeking to overturn the 2020 presidential election provide a "roadmap to an attempted coup," CNN reports.
Phil Waldron, a retired Army colonel, has been identified as one of the top people seeking to prove that Trump's re-election loss resulted from voter fraud. As he and other Trump allies sought access to voting machines in states like Arizona and Georgia, he kept Meadows updated on their progress via text messages, per CNN.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In the messages, Waldron called Arizona the "lead domino we were counting on to start the cascade" and said the court's dismissal would allow opponents to use "delay tactics" to keep Waldron and his team from getting access to the machines. Meadows replied, "Pathetic."
The text messages illuminate how strong Waldron's influence was among GOP White House leaders at the time. CNN reports that court documents suggest that the extent of Meadow's connection to the attempts to overturn the election has stirred the interest of prosecutors investigating efforts to prove Trump's claims of voter fraud.
In an interview with CBS' 60 Minutes, Riggleman said, "The Meadows text messages show you an administration that was completely eaten up with a digital virus called QAnon conspiracy theories."
-
A running list of everything Trump has named or renamed after himselfIn Depth The Kennedy Center is the latest thing to be slapped with Trump’s name
-
Do oil companies really want to invest in Venezuela?Today’s Big Question Trump claims control over crude reserves, but challenges loom
-
‘Despite the social benefits of venting, people can easily overdo it’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
The billionaires’ wealth tax: a catastrophe for California?Talking Point Peter Thiel and Larry Page preparing to change state residency
-
Hegseth moves to demote Sen. Kelly over videospeed read Retired Navy fighter pilot Mark Kelly appeared in a video reminding military service members that they can ‘refuse illegal orders’
-
Trump says US ‘in charge’ of Venezuela after Maduro grabSpeed Read The American president claims the US will ‘run’ Venezuela for an unspecified amount of time, contradicting a statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio
-
Bari Weiss’ ‘60 Minutes’ scandal is about more than one reportIN THE SPOTLIGHT By blocking an approved segment on a controversial prison holding US deportees in El Salvador, the editor-in-chief of CBS News has become the main story
-
CBS pulls ‘60 Minutes’ report on Trump deporteesSpeed Read An investigation into the deportations of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador’s notorious prison was scrapped
-
Trump administration posts sliver of Epstein filesSpeed Read Many of the Justice Department documents were heavily redacted, though new photos of both Donald Trump and Bill Clinton emerged
-
Trump HHS moves to end care for trans youthSpeed Read The administration is making sweeping proposals that would eliminate gender-affirming care for Americans under age 18
-
Jack Smith tells House of ‘proof’ of Trump’s crimesSpeed Read President Donald Trump ‘engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election,’ hoarded classified documents and ‘repeatedly tried to obstruct justice’
