New transcripts of closed-door testimony to the Jan. 6 House committee show Donald Trump and his allies had a direct hand in the Nevada Republican Party's scheme to send a phony electoral certificate to Congress in 2020 in a last-ditch attempt to keep the former president in power.
The documents made public Wednesday evening included interviews with state party leader Michael McDonald and Republican National Committeeman Jim DeGraffenreid in February. Both men served as fake electors in Carson City on Dec. 14, 2020.
That day, six Nevada GOP members signed certificates falsely stating that Trump won Nevada in 2020 and sent them to Congress and the National Archives, where they were ultimately ignored.
The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol is digging into the role that these fake electors in key battleground states had in Trump's attempt to cling to power after his 2020 defeat.
McDonald and DeGraffenreid invoked Fifth Amendment protection hundreds of times in their separate interviews with the Jan. 6 committee, refusing to answer questions about their involvement and the extent to which Trump's top allies had helped in orchestrating the plot.
Still, the transcripts provide an unprecedented view into the Trump team's coordinated efforts in Nevada to overturn the results of the election 바카라 efforts that included direct communication between McDonald and the president himself.
On Nov. 4, 2020, for example, the day after the election, McDonald had a conference call with Trump, his then-chief of staff Mark Meadows, attorney Rudy Giuliani and son Eric Trump.
바카라They want full attack mode,바카라 McDonald later wrote in a text message describing that call.
바카라We're gonna have a war room meeting in about an hour.바카라
Both McDonald and DeGraffenreid turned over their communications to the Jan. 6 committee related to the fake elector scheme.
The FBI also seized McDonald's cellphone in June as part of an investigation into the scheme.
Those documents, detailed at length in the transcripts, included text messages, emails and internal memorandums distributed by the national GOP arm; handwritten charts, templates for press releases and the phony certificate itself; and talking points 바카라explaining the rationale for the electors.바카라
The planning was extensive, the transcripts show, and began as early as four days before the election, when state party officials began discussing whether Nevada's Republican secretary of state, Barbara Cegavske, would sign off on the alternate slate of electors.
DeGraffenreid, in a text conversation with party officials, said Cegavske 바카라might do a lot of things, but sending a slate of Republican electors without them being clearly the winners of the popular vote is not one of them.바카라
Cegavske ultimately certified President Joe Biden's victory in Nevada, defending the results as reliable and accurate despite attacks from Trump and others within her own party, which led the Nevada Republican Party to censure her.
She later conducted an investigation that found no credible evidence of widespread voter fraud throughout the state.
Meanwhile, the day before the slate of fake electors met, the transcripts show McDonald grew increasingly frustrated with the RNC's direction over how to conduct the certificate signing.
It appeared that he had gone back and forth with the RNC about logistics of the ceremony: the location, how they would publicize it and what they would say in their speeches.
바카라RNC essentially put us in a box on what we can say, but doesn't sound too bad,바카라 Shawn Meehan, one of the fake electors, said in a text to DeGraffenreid.
Meehan also told DeGraffenreid that McDonald wanted a smaller group that would plan the final details over breakfast, and that he is 바카라stressing on the optics.바카라
It was visible to several of the fake electors 바카라 that same day, another fake elector had texted DeGraffenreid that McDonald was upset with 바카라mixed messages and direction on publicity for tomorrow.바카라
바카라He's very concerned RNC will cut cord if it looks bad and steal credit if we do well,바카라 Meehan messaged.
바카라I know," DeGraffenreid responded.
바카라He's concerned that we look like foolish crybabies.바카라
Ultimately, the Nevada Republican Party would press forward, and after more than two months of planning, McDonald, DeGraffenreid and the other fake electors gathered outside the Capitol building in Carson City for a ceremony.
바카라History made today in Carson City, Nevada,바카라 the state party would write on social media after the ceremony, "as @McDonaldNV leads our electors in casting Nevada's 6 electoral votes for the winner of Nevada, @realDonaldTrump and @Mike_Pence!바카라
McDonald did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday evening.
A lawyer for DeGraffenreid said he declined to comment.
The nine-member committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot will dissolve when Republicans take over the House next month.
The committee on Thursday released its full 800-plus page report of its 18-month investigation, which they hope will lead to criminal charges against Trump and his key allies.
