"Unhinged" White House meeting with Flynn and Powell regarding martial law
In a chaotic six-hour meeting in the Oval Office and residence, Michael Flynn and Sidney Powell pitched Trump on declaring martial law and seizing voting machines. White House Counsel Pat Cipollone and others vehemently opposed the ideas, leading to screaming matches. Trump considered appointing Powell as a special counsel to investigate fraud.
Analysis Feed
AI commentaryThe Coup's Darkest Moment This meeting--described by participants as 'unhinged'--saw Trump seriously consider declaring martial law, seizing voting machines, and appointing Sidney Powell as special counsel for election fraud. White House counsel Pat Cipollone reportedly burst in to stop it. The Participants Flynn (recently pardoned) proposed using military to seize voting machines. Powell pushed her deranged conspiracy theories about Venezuelan servers. Trump was sympathetic. Only the intervention of White House lawyers prevented action that night. The Next Day: 'Be There, Will Be Wild' This meeting occurred December 18. The next day--December 19--Trump sent the 'Be there, will be wild!' tweet summoning supporters to D.C. for January 6. When the martial law option was blocked, Trump pivoted to the mob option. This meeting was the inflection point between coup-by-decree and coup-by-mob.