- A Washington Post photographer caught a glimpse of President Donald Trump and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell’s meeting notes on Friday, where they appeared to discuss explosive national security moves.
- One line reads, “Move Kash Patel to CIA acting,” previewing more personnel changes Trump could push. Another reads,”… foreign interference in the election trigger [illegible] powers. Make clear this is China/Iran.”
- Lindell has offered a renewed solidarity to Trump, doling out a MyPillow discount with the code “FightForTrump,” and appearing on Newsmax and calling insurrectionists “very peaceful,” and blaming antifa for the insurrection.
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On President Donald Trump’s final Friday in office, his public schedule predictably says he “will work from early in the morning until late in the evening. He will make many calls and have many meetings.”
It appears that one of those meetings was discussing drastic national security measures with Trump ally MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell.
A close-up photo of Lindell and Trump’s meeting notes was captured by Washington Post photographer Jabin Botsford, including a number of phrases and agenda items.
—Jabin Botsford (@jabinbotsford) January 15, 2021
Lindell is holding the notes with a phone in one hand and a coffee cup in the other hand, bending the notes face open so that some sentences are legible. One of those phrases reads “”Insurrection Act now as a result of the assault on the… martial law if necessary upon the first hint of any…”,
Another reads, "Move Kash Patel to CIA acting," previewing more personnel changes Trump could enact on his way out. Another note reads,"… foreign interference in the election trigger [illegible] powers. Make clear this is China/Iran."
Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images/ Business Insider
Patel, who currently serves as the chief of staff to acting defense secretary Christopher Miller, has been a Trump ally. One note suggests a new National Security director "NOW."
Other phrases, which are not fully legible, reference investigating the 2020 election, which Trump lost and has yet to concede. Lindell did not take any questions from press upon leaving the West Wing.
Lindell has been an oddly prominent and loyal figure throughout Trump's presidency, appearing in key meetings and speaking at Justice Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation at the White House Lawn.
In the wake of last week's deadly riots, Lindell has offered a renewed solidarity to Trump, doling out a MyPillow discount with the code "FightForTrump," and appearing on Newsmax and calling insurrectionists "very peaceful," and blaming antifa for the violence and destruction at the Capitol.
On December 19, Lindell also tweeted and deleted a call for Trump to impose martial law after Georgia's officials refused to overturn the legitimate election results, according to Newsweek. Twitter has since labeled many of Lindell's tweets as election misinformation.
The New York Times reported that Lindell denied claims that "martial law" was written on his notes or discussed at his meeting with the president, but an administration official confirmed to the outlet that the words were indeed on his notes. Lindell presented more election conspiracies during the meeting, but Trump was not entertaining the notions, leaving Lindell frustrated, an administration official told The Times.
Steve Vladeck, a national security law expert and professor at the University of Texas School of Law, responded to the alleged agenda items on Twitter.
"And just for the record, no-none of this could actually work," Vladeck said, referencing discussions of invoking the Insurrection Act.
"Under the absolute terms of Section 1 of the Twentieth Amendment, Trump's term is over at noon (EST) on Wednesday, no matter how much nonsense he - or his "advisers" - tries to pull between now and then," Vladeck added.
—Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) January 15, 2021
The Presidential Succession Act of 1947 means that if Trump invoked the Insurrection Act to delay the inauguration, and neither him nor Biden were president by noon on January 20th, the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, would assume temporary power before choosing a President and Vice President.