‘Sit Your Ass Down’: Meeting Between Sidney Powell and Trump Lawyers Reportedly Erupted into Wild Fight Over Conspiracies
Stunning new details have emerged from President Donald Trump’s final days in office, in particular a meeting with competing factions of allies that plunged into a chaotic mix of conspiracy theories and screaming in the White House.
Reports in December described the meeting where Trump hosted “Kraken” attorney Sidney Powell and pardoned former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn at the Oval Office. The meeting was then described as a chaotic affair devoted to Trump’s obsession with overturning his 2020 election defeat after numerous attempts had already fallen apart.
But Axios has reported excruciating new details on the conversation and how it devolved into a confrontation between the White House’s advisers and the conspiracy theories pitched by Powell, Flynn, and their surrogates.
The meeting began with Powell’s claim that Dominion Voting Systems rigged the election as part of a massive international conspiracy, the same claim for which Dominion is suing her in a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit. The conversation reportedly went on with Powell and Flynn proposing that Trump should mobilize the government, have Dominion’s machines seized, and declare a national emergency.
Jonathan Swan reports that the words “martial law” were never spoken during the meeting. However, he goes on to say it’s “a distinction without much of a difference,” given that Flynn and Powell were proposing a suspension of regular laws at the time.
White House senior adviser Eric Herschmann also attended the meeting, and he called in several of his colleagues while challenging Powell over her previous failures in disputing the election. Powell represented Flynn over the course of his legal battles the last 4 years, and the meeting eventually became a slugfest between him and Herschmann.
From the report:
Flynn went berserk. The former three-star general, whom Trump had fired as his first national security after he had admitted lying to the FBI (and later pardoned), stood up and turned from the Resolute Desk to face Herschmann.
“You’re quitting! You’re a quitter! You’re not fighting!” he exploded at the senior adviser. Flynn then turned to the president, and implored: “Sir, we need fighters.”
Herschmann ignored Flynn at first and continued to probe Powell’s pitch with questions about the underlying evidence. “All you do is promise, but never deliver,” he said to her sharply.
Flynn was ranting, seemingly infuriated about anyone challenging Powell, who had represented him in his recent legal battles.
Finally Herschmann had enough. “Why the fuck do you keep standing up and screaming at me?” he shot back at Flynn. “If you want to come over here, come over here. If not, sit your ass down.” Flynn sat back down.
The meeting kept going downhill from there as the various parties in the meeting squabbled about the Trump team’s legal setbacks, the integrity of the FBI and the Justice Department, and their personal grievances with one another. The meeting ended up going on for hours as Trump kept entertaining the notions Powell, Flynn, and their entourage proposed despite White House lawyers shooting them down.
