Politics - News Analysis

Log Given to Jan 6 Committee Reveals Chilling Trump Letter That Called for ‘Seizure’ of Election Material

Bernard Kerik has already been to prison. He cannot afford a second offense, which makes it a bit odd that he would involve himself so deeply in what were obvious crimes to overturn a regular ole’ election that Donald Trump lost.

Perhaps that’s why Kerick is a little more forthcoming with the Select Committee when it comes to handing over evidence. According to Politico, Kerik provided a lot of help today, a Friday, almost holiday, New Year’s Eve, a great time to dump stuff one wants missed in the media. Trump certainly will not miss that the evidence was handed over. According to Politico:

A key adviser to Donald Trump’s legal team in their post-election quest to unearth evidence of fraud has delivered a trove of documents to Jan. 6 investigators describing those efforts.

But even weirder, Kerik handed over a “log” of material that Kerik considers privileged. Unfortunately, the Trump team was stupid enough to name one of the documents in a manner that almost proves it is a crime.

When one is suspected of a crime, it is a terrible idea to hide or do anything with “evidence” that might be applicable to that crime because – in effect, you just convicted yourself of another crime, tampering with evidence.

And that’s just what Trump did, or at least proposed to do (because they never actually went through with this particular crime). The log does somewhat prove that Trump was not working with the greatest lawyers on earth at the time. Again, according to Politico:

Among the withheld documents is one titled “DRAFT LETTER FROM POTUS TO SEIZE EVIDENCE IN THE INTEREST OF NATIONAL SECURITY FOR THE 2020 ELECTIONS.” Kerik’s attorney Timothy Parlatore provided the privilege log to the panel, which said the file originated on Dec. 17, a day before Trump huddled in the Oval Office with advisers including former Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, where they discussed the option of seizing election equipment in states whose results Trump was attempting to overturn.

Trump was president. But he was also a party to the election. One party “seizing evidence” as to who won would be a crime. The only way to “seize” those machines legally would be for Trump to have the state name a truly neutral party to determine whether there was cause or not.

It’s unclear whether the letter is related to the same plan and if Trump knew of its existence. Kerik withheld it, describing it as privileged because of its classification as “attorney work product.”

It may well be attorney work product and attorney work product is usually exempt from disclosure. However, when the attorney’s work produces a product that proposes a crime, the privilege doesn’t apply.

We will let a real judge sort out what really is privileged and what really is a crime. But two things are clear: One, Kerik is far more interested in protecting Kerik and not testing the legal limits in hiding from the Select Committee and Two, this is not good news for Donald Trump.

meet the author

Nicole Hickman James is a lifelong Democrat and political activist who first cut her teeth as a teenager volunteering for Mike Dukakis’ presidential campaign. She has worked and volunteered for John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, HFA (Hillary For America), and Organizing For Action. She’s passionate about liberal and progressive causes and considers President Obama her favorite president ever. She holds her Bachelor’s from Boston College in Economics and her Master's from Columbia, also in Economics. When not working as a writer, she enjoys traveling and spending time with her three college-aged children.

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