According to last Tuesday’s indictment, Donald Trump enlisted the help of six co-conspirators in a bid to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
They have not been named, but details within the indictment make it very possible to identify who they are and their connection to Trump. Below is our attempt at an educated guess on the matter.
Many are close associates of the former president and were recommended for charges by those within the House committee responsible for investigating January 6’s attack on the Capitol.
Rudy Giuliani
The former New York City mayor is the first co-conspirator referenced by the indictment.
Described as “an attorney who was willing to spread knowingly false claims and pursue strategies that the Defendant’s 2020 re-election campaign attorneys would not,” Giuliani played a vocal role in Trump’s post-election appeals, all of which failed in court.
“When the Arizona House Speaker again asked Co-Conspirator 1 for evidence of the outcome-determinative election fraud he and the Defendant had been claiming, Co-Conspirator 1 responded with words to the effect of, ‘We don’t have the evidence, but we have lots of theories,’” the indictment reads.
Moreover, Giuliani reportedly made false claims that more than 10,000 dead people voted in Georgia’s presidential election, a figure which matched the difference between Trump and Joe Biden in the state’s results.
Giuliani is facing disbarment as a lawyer for his role on January 6 following a preliminary recommendation by a D.C. Bar Association panel.
John Eastman
Eastman is the second co-conspirator, his lawyer Harvey Silverglate confirmed to The Hill.
His role predominantly focused on Trump’s campaign to encourage Mike Pence by attempting to implement “a strategy to leverage the Vice President’s ceremonial role overseeing the certification proceeding to obstruct the certification of the presidential election.”
He has also been accused of urging Rusty Bowers to decertify the state’s legitimate electors and “let the courts sort it out,” a request which was refused.
Despite his call for Pence to defy his ceremonial role, the indictment noted that, just two months prior, Eastman had expressed doubt that neither the Constitution nor the Electoral Count Act gave Pence any power to overturn the results of the election.
Sidney Powell
As Trump’s executive assistant, Powell is referenced in the indictment as the attorney responsible for filing a lawsuit against Georgia Governor Brian Kemp regarding voting machines.
Powell filed the lawsuit on November 25, 2020, for it to be dismissed two weeks later – dates which correspond with the indictment.
“Before the lawsuit was even filed, the Defendant retweeted a post promoting it,” the indictment states.
“The Defendant did this despite the fact that when he had discussed Co-Conspirator 3’s far-fetched public claims regarding the voting machine company in private with advisors, the Defendant had conceded that they were unsupported and that Co-Conspirator 3 sounded ‘crazy.’”
Jeffrey Clark
The indictment alludes to a Department of Justice official who worked on civil matters with Trump.
The former president was considering appointing Clark as attorney general to forward investigations into the baseless claims which have led to his indictment.
Clark encouraged the DoJ to ask Georgia to delay its certification of the results so it could launch a formal investigation into election fraud within the state.
His proposed appointment led to several officials threatening to quit in a fiery Oval Office meeting.
He has been accused of holding direct conversations with Trump contradictory to DoJ policy, and then lying to bosses about the nature of the chat.
His phone was seized by the FBI last year in connection with the investigation, and is facing the prospect of disbarment as a lawyer. Kenneth Chesebro
The fifth co-conspirator is described as “an attorney who assisted in devising and attempting to implement a plan to submit fraudulent slates of presidential elections to obstruct the certification proceeding.”
This description can be connected to Chesebro, who worked with Trump to implement a strategy for fake electors in key states.
The indictment references several documents in which Chesebro planned ideas on how the fake electors could mimic legitimate ones.
An unnamed consultant
The sixth and final co-conspirator is unclear at this time, but has been accused of helping to “implement a plan to submit fraudulent slates of presidential electors to obstruct the certification proceeding.”
Allegations of wrongdoing include an email to Giuliani with a list of favourable attorneys to assist in the fake elector schemes in seven key states, later joining a conference call with Giuliani and Chesebro within the following days.
“When the Defendant’s electors expressed concern about signing certificates representing themselves as legitimate electors, Co-Conspirator 1 falsely assured them that their certificates would be used only if the Defendant succeeded in litigation,” the indictment reads.
“Subsequently, Co-Conspirator 6 circulated proposed conditional language to that effect for potential inclusion in the fraudulent elector certificates.”
Shay Bottomley is a British journalist based in Canada. He has written for the Western Standard, Maidenhead Advertiser, Slough Express, Windsor Express, Berkshire Live and Southend Echo, and has covered notable events including the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
From 19FortyFive
