Former President Donald Trump’s campaign reportedly rushed to hand deliver fake elector certificates to former Vice President Mike Pence in the lead up to the certification of President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.
A report detailing a trove of audio recordings and emails from those involved in the plot was published by CNN on Thursday. Much of the report focuses on audio from a recent interview that Kenneth Chesebro, a former Trump lawyer and the alleged architect of the fake electors scheme, gave to investigators in Michigan.
Chesebro’s testimony suggests that Trump’s team became increasingly desperate over concerns that fake certificates from Michigan and Wisconsin might not arrive before Pence presided over the joint session of Congress on January 6, 2021.
Pence ultimately ignored demands from Trump and some of his close associates to block Biden’s certification. He has since repeatedly denounced the scheme and rejected claims that the election was “stolen.”
Alyssa Pointer; Scott Olson
Newsweek reached out for comment to the Trump campaign via email on Thursday.
Here are some of the key takeaways from CNN’s reporting.
Trump Campaign Lawyer ‘Freaked Out’ Over Stalled Delivery of the Fake Certificates
Chesebro told Michigan investigators that Trump campaign lawyer Matt Morgan and staffer Mike Roman were deeply involved in the effort to deliver the fake elector certificates to Pence before January 6.
He said that Morgan “freaked out” after learning from Roman that the Michigan certificate was “still in the sorting facility in Michigan” and might not arrive to Pence in time.
CNN reported that a January 4, 2021, email sent by Roman to Chesebro asked whether the campaign might “charter a flight” to ensure that the Wisconsin certificate made it Washington in time.
Chesebro Lost ‘Almost All’ of His Money Due to Fallout From the Electors Scheme
A recording of Chesebro’s Michigan interview indicates that the former Trump lawyer experienced financial ruin following his involvement with the Trump campaign.
Chesebro blames his losses on “lies” by figures like Morgan, who minimized his role in the electors scheme while testifying before the now-defunct January 6 House Select Committee last year.
“To have the three top campaign lawyers, in interviews with Congress, claim they pulled out of this…and I ran off and did it with [former Trump lawyer Rudy] Giuliani when in fact they were day-by-day coordinating the efforts…that’s what really rankles,” Chesebro said. “I was under suspicion because they lied to [the January 6 Committee] about me.”
“It really went south on me,” he added. “I had a wonderful apartment in New York City I had to sell for a $2 million loss and lost almost all of my net worth, because of the attorney’s bills…I don’t have a really warm feeling towards at least the top Trump lawyers that did this…and then lied to Congress about me.”
GOP Senator Ron Johnson Was a Key Figure in the Rush to Deliver Fake Certificates
Chesebro claimed in his Michigan interview that Republican Senator Ron Johnson was involved in the “high-level” efforts to get fake elector certificates delivered to Pence.
“This is a high-level decision to get the Michigan and Wisconsin votes there,” Chesebro said. “And they had to enlist, you know, a U.S. senator to try to expedite it, to get it to Pence in time.”
Chesebro also said that a Pennsylvania congressman, who may have been Republican Representative Scott Perry, took part in efforts to deliver another fake slate of electors to Pence.
After being interrupted by the January 6 attack on the Capitol, Congress eventually certified Biden’s win using the genuine Electoral College votes. The president defeated Trump by 306 to 232 votes in the Electoral College and over 7 million national popular votes.
Allegations concerning the fake electors plot feature prominently in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s federal felony indictment against Trump in Washington, D.C., as well as the ex-president’s criminal case concerning election subversion in Fulton County, Georgia.
Chesebro was indicted in Fulton County alongside Trump and 17 other co-defendants in August. He pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge in October after reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors and may testify against the former president in future proceedings.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.