Washington Special counsel Jack Smiths office has asked former US officials about a February Oval Office meeting where thenPresident Donald Trump praised improvements to the security of US elections. In the meeting with senior US officials and White House staff Trump touted his administrations work to expand the use of paper ballots and support security audits of vote tallies. Trump was so encouraged by federal efforts to protect election systems that he suggested the FBI and Department of Homeland Security hold a press conference to take credit for the work four people familiar with the meeting told . Those details offer a stark contrast to the voterfraud conspiracy theories Trump began spreading publicly just weeks later and continued to use to question the election results. Investigators seemed particularly interested in understanding Trumps mindset about election security before he embarked on a monthslong campaign to cast doubt on elections the source added. Investigators have also asked multiple witnesses about whether Trump retaliated against top officials for contradicting his narrative on election security two sources said. Trumps private expressions of confidence in US elections could offer prosecutors insight into Trumps thinking and potentially undercut his defense that he truly believed the election was stolen. Its one more indicator that Jack Smith has looked under every rock. A spokesman for the special counsels office declined to comment. A spokesperson for Trump did not respond to a request for comment. The February briefing grew tense when the topic turned to Moscows. Thenacting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire resigned days earlier over a preference for Trump over a briefing for lawmakers on Russias preference for Hillary Clinton in the election. Over the next few months Trump embraced a host of baseless conspiracy theories about voter fraud. He said massive fraud took place with machines and falsely claimed millions of votes were deleted. He also made wild claims about foreign election interference by from countries including Venezuela and Italy. By early April as states started adjusting voting rules amid the Covid pandemic Trump was making baseless attacks on voting by mail falsely claiming it was fraudulent and dangerous. He soon fired Chris Krebs the top cyber official at DHS who had rejected Trumps claims of widespread voter fraud in the November election. The meeting was attended by senior US national security officials and covered a range of federal actions that federal agencies were taking to secure the February election. It was held in the Oval Office of the White House. It has not been previously reported that Smiths interest in the February meeting is the latest indication that the special prosecutor is seeking testimony from a number of witnesses about Trump’s mindset surrounding his voter fraud claims including what he was told or understood about elections security. It is likely relevant to Smiths election interference investigation because they speak to Trumps knowledge and intent around election security. The statement was based on the exact security programs officials presented to Trump during the February briefing. On Nov. 9 days after the election DHSs cyber agency released a statement describing the election as the most secure in American history. On November 9 days. nine days afterwards DHSs security director said the election would be secure and that he was heeding the advice of his own experts.
Special counsel scrutinizes February 2020 meeting where Trump praised US election security protections. Special counsel scrutinizing February 2020 Meeting where Trump praise US electionSecurity protections.
