Politics - News Analysis

‘My God’: Americans Horrified After Reading Trump’s Proposed Order to Seize Michigan Voting Machines

We will start by setting the mood:

Yes, that is the appropriate response to Politico obtaining a copy of a never-signed order, dated Dec. 16th (Day after Electoral College Vote), part of which involves an order to the Defense Department, the military, to move in and seize all voting machines in Michigan, all based upon entirely untrue conspiracy theories invented to prevent having to think about losing.

From Politico, some of the highlights:

The executive order — which also would have appointed a special counsel to probe the 2020 election — was never issued, and the remarks were never delivered. Together, the two documents point to the wildly divergent perspectives of White House advisers and allies during Trump’s frenetic final weeks in office.

There is nothing in the Constitution that could have dealt with the appointment of a special counsel and if we know anything, it is that a special counsel requires years to “probe” anything. The order would have been signed Dec. 16th or some day later, three weeks prior to January 6th. It takes any decent special counsel two to three weeks to find office space, hire investigators, hire other staff, from attorneys to investigators.

Had the order been issued, the U.S. military would necessarily already be playing a role in the probe and Trump would have remained president – given that January 6th might not have been possible. Mike Pence might have felt that his hands were tied at that point. It would have been a military coup.

Again, the document was never signed, but it had made its way into the White House (Or was generated in the White House). As bad as the interim period was, it could have been much much worse.

The document can be found here, responses are below:

Well, this order wasn’t signed, and so in and of itself, it doesn’t constitute a crime. But it is breathtaking how close we came.

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[email protected] and on Twitter @JasonMiciak

meet the author

Jason Miciak is a political writer, features writer, author, and attorney. He is originally from Canada but grew up in the Pacific Northwest. He now enjoys life as a single dad raising a ridiculously-loved young girl on the beaches of the Gulf Coast. He is very much the dreamy mystic, a day without learning is a day not lived. He is passionate about his flower pots and studies philosophical science, religion, and non-mathematical principles of theoretical physics. Dogs, pizza, and love are proof that God exists. "Above all else, love one another."

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