Six accused of aiding power grab as co-conspirators

They were not named and have not been charged, but five have been identified from the details released by prosecutors.

Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani and Jeffrey Clark. Pictures: AFP

Federal prosecutors listed six co-conspirators they assert assisted Donald Trump in “his criminal ­efforts to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election and retain power”.

The six were not named in the indictment and have not been charged, but five have been identified from the details released by prosecutors. Many of the allegations match evidence and testimony given to the House of Representatives committee investigating the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot last year.

1. Rudy Giuliani. The former mayor of New York called a hero for his response to 9/11, is believed to be “co-conspirator 1”. Mr Giuliani, 79, was Mr Trump’s personal lawyer and led legal challenges to results in battleground states won by Joe Biden, pushing false claims of voter fraud.

The indictment says Mr Trump enlisted this co-conspirator “to spread knowingly false claims and pursue strategies that the defendant’s 2020 re-election campaign attorneys would not”.

Co-conspirator 1 is alleged to have pressured Republican officials in swing states to overturn or discredit the results, despite ­admitting privately there was no evidence for his claims of fraud. When the house speaker in ­Arizona asked for evidence that ­illegal votes were cast, the co-conspirator is said to have replied: “We don’t have the evidence, but we have lots of theories.”

Mr Giuliani’s spokesman said the indictment criminalised “daring to ask about the election results”.

2. John Eastman, 63, a conservative lawyer and constitutional scholar, is believed to be “co-conspirator 2”, described as the architect of the plan to put pressure on Mike Pence, Mr Trump’s vice-president, to block certification of the election results on January 6. The co-conspirator is alleged to have suggested that false slates of electors could ­declare victory for Mr Trump in battleground states won by Mr Biden, to give Mr Pence a pretext to throw out votes there and ­declare Mr Trump as re-elected.

Dr Eastman’s lawyer said on Wednesday the indictment was “misleading” and cast “ominous aspersions” on Mr Trump’s advisers: “If Dr Eastman is indicted he will go to trial. If convicted, he will appeal,” he added.

3. Sidney Powell is a candidate for “co-conspirator 3”, who is ­described in the indictment as a lawyer whose “unfounded claims of election fraud” were “embraced and publicly amplified” by Mr Trump.

A former federal prosecutor turned conservative pundit, Ms Powell claimed after the election that voting machines had been rigged to swing the election for Mr Biden. She launched lawsuits in states such as Michigan and Georgia, alleging widespread fraud, and was counter-sued for defamation.

Mr Trump’s campaign distanced itself from Ms Powell, 68, but the president continued to promote her claims about rigged machines, even though he allegedly conceded in private that they were “crazy”.

4. Jeffrey Clark was a mid-level official at the Justice Department thrust into the Trump campaign’s attempts to discredit the result and lend credibility to the false claims of fraud. He is believed to be “co-conspirator 4”, but has not ­responded to this claim.

Sidestepping the attorney-general, Mr Clark, 56, spoke to Mr Trump and proposed sending a letter to battleground states to say his department had identified “significant concerns that may have impacted the election outcome”.

Mr Clark’s intervention came to a head on January 3, 2021, when Mr Trump proposed replacing Jeffrey Rosen as acting attorney-general with Mr Clark. Mr Rosen and his deputy threatened mass resignations and Mr Trump backed down.

5. Kenneth Chesebro is ­believed to be “co-conspirator 5”, described as a lawyer who ­“assisted in devising and attempting to implement a plan to submit fraudulent slates of presidential electors to obstruct the certification”.

The house committee investigating January 6 claimed Mr Chesebro, 62, was an architect of the fake electors scheme, based on a December 2020 email sent to Mr Giuliani. He has not commented.

6. The only co-conspirator whose identity is unclear is “a political consultant” who helped ­assemble a list of lawyers in seven swing states who could aid the “fake electors” scheme.

The Times