According to witnesses who have appeared before the 1/6 grand jury, federal prosecutors are investigating Trump’s planning to overturn the election before Election Day.
John King said on CNN:
This justifiable focus on January 6, because of the horrendous, reprehensible conduct of that day. But if you talk to some of the people who’ve gone in before this grand jury, they say this goes back to even before the election. That the conversation started even before the election about what happens.
We will say, as Donald Trump said on election night, against the advice of his political advisors and his legal advisors, that the election was stolen. So, I would say today, as we focus on this again, and following what Donald Trump says it’s about, just to be very cautious about that, and realize that we know from the witnesses that they were asked about things happening in the last weeks of the campaign up to election day, all the way up to January 6, and then even after that.
Video:
CNN’s John King says grand jury witnesses have said that Jack Smith is investigating Trump’s actions before the election as it appears he was preparing a plot to overturn the results before he lost. pic.twitter.com/vY740NarWF
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) July 18, 2023
The prevailing narrative surrounding Trump’s coup attempt for the last few years has been that Trump put his plan into action after he lost the election, but that never made much sense, because of Trump’s comments on election night when he declared victory and proclaimed that if he lost it meant that the election had been stolen.
The scope and sophistication of Trump’s efforts to overturn the election also did not seem like they came together quickly. It turns out that Trump may have been planning to overturn the election for weeks before election day.
If the coup was premeditated, it makes a diabolical plan even more evil.
The evidence is clear that Donald Trump cheated to win in 2016. Trump was impeached the first time for trying to cheat to win in 2020, and it appears that Trump planned to cheat the American people and steal their votes if he lost the 2020 election.
Trump is facing federal charges, not potentially only for the events of 1/6, but for a crime against the United States that was months in the making.
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
