Trump reportedly considered appointing controversial lawyer Sidney Powell to lead election fraud investigation
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
The Trump campaign may have distanced itself from attorney Sidney Powell in its longshot fight to overturn the presidential election results, but President Trump has another job in mind for the controversial lawyer, The New York Times reports.
During a Friday meeting at the White House, Trump discussed making Powell a special counsel investigating voter fraud, two people briefed on the discussion told the Times. The president's advisers were reportedly not fond of the idea — Powell has largely fallen out of favor even among Trump's most ardent loyalists because she's pushed baseless conspiracy theories that Trump's loss stemmed from a Venezuelan plot involving corrupted voting machines.
Powell was at the White House for the meeting, which reportedly became "raucous" at times, and accused Trump's advisers of being quitters, the Times' sources said. Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and White House counsel Pat Cipollone were reportedly two of the people who rejected the idea.
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.
Per the Times, the meeting also involved a discussion about an executive order to take control of voting machines to examine them. Giuliani has reportedly made separate but similar calls for the Department of Homeland Security to seize the machines, only to be told the department does not have the authority to do so. Read more at The New York Times.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Buddhist monks’ US walk for peaceUnder the Radar Crowds have turned out on the roads from California to Washington and ‘millions are finding hope in their journey’
-
American universities are losing ground to their foreign counterpartsThe Explainer While Harvard is still near the top, other colleges have slipped
-
How to navigate dating apps to find ‘the one’The Week Recommends Put an end to endless swiping and make real romantic connections
-
Epstein files topple law CEO, roil UK governmentSpeed Read Peter Mandelson, Britain’s former ambassador to the US, is caught up in the scandal
-
Iran and US prepare to meet after skirmishesSpeed Read The incident comes amid heightened tensions in the Middle East
-
EU and India clinch trade pact amid US tariff warSpeed Read The agreement will slash tariffs on most goods over the next decade
-
Israel retrieves final hostage’s body from GazaSpeed Read The 24-year-old police officer was killed during the initial Hamas attack
-
China’s Xi targets top general in growing purgeSpeed Read Zhang Youxia is being investigated over ‘grave violations’ of the law
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
