Six accused of aiding power grab as co-conspirators

Federal prosecutors have named six high-ranking individuals they believe helped Donald Trump attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

John Eastman, Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell and Jeffrey Clark are all believed to be Donald Trump’s co-conspirators.

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 committee investigating the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot last year.

Donald Trump was indicted over his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election - the most serious legal threat yet to the former president.

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”. Giuliani, 79, was 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 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.”

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

2. John Eastman

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, 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 Trump in battleground states won by Biden, to give Pence a pretext to throw out votes there and declare Trump as re-elected.

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

Rudy Giuliani speaks at the Republican National Committee headquarters alongside Sidney Powell.

3. Sidney Powell

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 Trump. Her lawyer declined to comment.

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

Trump’s campaign distanced itself from 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

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, Clark, 56, spoke to Trump and proposed sending a letter to battleground states to say his department had identified “significant concerns that may have impacted the election outcome”. The indictment says: “The proposed letter contained numerous knowingly false claims.”

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

Jeffrey Clark, former Acting Assistant Attorney General, attends a January 6th field hearing.

5. Kenneth Chesebro

Chesebro is believed to be “co-conspirator 5”, described as an attorney 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 Chesebro, 62, was an architect of the fake electors scheme, based on a December 2020 email sent to Giuliani. He has not commented.

6. Unnamed political consultant.

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

THE TIMES