(CNN)Then-President Donald Trump in December 2020 was entertaining fringe legal advice from a wider group of outside lawyers than was previously known as he sought to block the 2020 election result. That included hearing directly from a little-known conservative lawyer advising Trump to take steps that effectively could be called declaration of "martial law," the New York Times reported Saturday, in another instance of fringe actors having pushed the President to take extreme steps after the 2020 election.
The Times reported on a previously undisclosed memo written by conservative lawyer William Olson, which documented a phone call Olson had with Trump on Christmas Day in 2020. In the memo, Olson wrote that he urged Trump to enlist the Justice Department to directly intercede in his legal efforts at the Supreme Court -- and to consider replacing his acting attorney general if he would not do so.
The memo said Trump told Olson he would follow up on the plan. The memo appears to be an early sketch of what days later became clear was Trump's approach to pressuring the Justice Department and a wish to potentially replace its top leadership.
Olson also encouraged Trump in the December 28, 2020, memo to replace lawyers in the White House counsel's office who had staunchly opposed the efforts of Trump allies like Michael Flynn and Sidney Powell to take actions like seizing voting machines.
"Task your new White House Counsel with identifying how the powers of the presidency can...
The Alberta government under Premier Danielle Smith has banned gender-affirming health care for youth in the province. Hear Rachel Gilmore and More: A Tyee Event on Battling Online Lies The Tyee ...