Trump Calls Reports on Martial Law Talks 'Fake News'
President Donald Trump dismissed reports of alleged martial law talks as "fake news."
In an early-morning tweet on Sunday, Trump denied the New York Times report claiming his former national security adviser Michael Flynn suggested declaring martial law.
The Times reported on Saturday that Trump was in a meeting with Flynn's lawyer Sidney Powell about a suggestion to "rerun" the 2020 election under a military supervision.
So some believed the president was going to declare martial law to overturn the results of the latest election, until Trump shot the news down, reported Business Insider.
Martial law = Fake News. Just more knowingly bad reporting!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 20, 2020
"Martial law = Fake News. Just more knowingly bad reporting!" Trump said in the tweet.
The proposal was first made by Flynn during a discussion on Newsmax. Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in 2017, and Trump pardoned him in late November.
Trump Advisers Pushed Back on Martial Law Proposal
During the said meeting, White House counsel Pat Cipollone and chief of staff Mark Meadows also made aggressive push backs against the proposal.
Cipollone said there was no constitutional authority for the discussion, a sentiment that was echoed by other White House advisers and the Trump campaign.
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The meeting stretched for a long time, but it was unclear if Trump endorsed the idea. Conspiracy theories on the election have surrounded Powell and Dominion Voting Systems recently.
The meeting was reported shortly after Trump told staffers to preserve documents related to these conspiracies, according to a The Hill report.
President-elect Joe Biden is nearing his inauguration in about a month. But as the date nears, some officials of the White House grew concerned that Trump may have been in too deep in his mission to overturn the election.
"People who are concerned and nervous aren't the weak-kneed bureaucrats that we loathe," a White House official told Axios.
They said the people concerned were officials who faced "arguably more insanity and mayhem than any administration officials in history."
Trump Considers Powell for Special Counsel
According to Breitbart, Trump was also considering Powell to serve as special counsel in the election investigation.
During her time as the Trump campaign's lawyer, Powell spread conspiracy theories about rigged voting machines in the U.S.
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It's not yet clear if Trump will be moving ahead with the plan. Most advisers, including the president's lawyer Rudy Giuliani, opposed the idea.
Trump Hits Back at John Bolton Attacks
After being blasted by former national security adviser John Bolton, Trump hits back, reported Fox News. Bolton banked on the theory that Trump was "getting worse" as the January inauguration drew near.
"No, he's not. It's the same behavior repeated over and over again," Bolton said.
Bolton suggested that the "same behavior" included the alleged talks on martial law, which would use military capabilities to serve Trump's purpose.
He noted that Trump showed "incompetence," making his advisers have to "push him back and reign in." Bolton added that Trump was "unfit for the job" of the president on Saturday night.
In reply, Trump tweeted: "What would Bolton, one of the dumbest people in Washington, know? I've got plenty of other Bolton 'stupid stories'."
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