Special Counsel Jack Smith is investigating Trump’s fundraising based on the big lie, and his lawyers that pushed the lie that the election was stolen.
The Justice Department’s investigation of efforts by Donald Trump and his advisers to overturn the 2020 election results is barreling forward on multiple tracks, according to people familiar with the matter, with prosecutors focused on ads and fundraising pitches claiming election fraud as well as plans for “fake electors” that would swing the election to the incumbent president.
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Investigators have sought to determine to what degree these lawyers — particularly Rudy Giuliani, Jenna Ellis, John Eastman, Kurt Olsen and Kenneth Chesebro, as well as then-Justice Department lawyer Jeffrey Clark — were following specific instructions from Trump or others, and what those instructions were, according to the people familiar with the matter, who like others interviewed for this article spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe an ongoing investigation.
It appears that Jack Smith is taking on a scheme that had multiple parts. Part of the scheme was the effort to overturn the 2020 election. That’s where the fake electors come in. A second part was millions and millions of dollars raised off of the Big Lie that the election was stolen from Trump. After Trump failed to overturn the election through pressuring local officials and the courts, he moved on to 1/6 and what ended up being an attack on the Capitol.
Rudy Giuliani ran the fake elector plot, but what Jack Smith wants to know is who was directing the plan from above. If it was Donald Trump, that means that Trump could facing an indictment for his attempted coup. Trump could also be facing charges for what amounted to wire fraud with his fundraising off of the big lie.
Giuliani is reportedly drinking heavily and worried about being federally indicted, but he shouldn’t be the only one, as justice could be coming for Trump and his coup plotters.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
