Around 5 p.m. on Christmas Day 2020, as many Americans were celebrating with their families, President Donald J. Trump was at his home at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla, talking on the phone to a little-known conservative lawyer. who was encouraging his attempt to overturn his election, according to a memo the lawyer later wrote recording the appeal.
The attorney, William J. Olson, promoted some radical ideas to the president. Mr. Olson later admitted that one part of his plan could be seen as tantamount to declaring “martial law” and another could draw comparisons to Watergate. The plan includes intervening in the Justice Department and firing the acting Attorney General, Jeffrey A. Rosen, according to Mr. Olson’s December 28 memotitled “Maintaining Constitutional Order.”
“Our small team of attorneys is working on a memo explaining exactly what you can do,” Olson wrote in his memo, obtained by The New York Times, which he flagged. as “privilege and secrecy” and sent to the president. “The media will call this martial law,” he wrote, adding that “it is ‘fake news.’”
The document highlights Olson’s previously unreported role in advising Mr. Trump as the president increasingly turns to far-right and far-right figures outside the White House to pursue options that are widely viewed in the United States. His official advisers have told him it is impossible or illegal, in an attempt to cling to power.
The participation of someone like Mr Olson, who now represents conspiracy theorist and MyPillow chief executive Mike Lindell, underscores how the system often insulates the president from fraudsters operating outside the channels. Officially broke down in the weeks following the 2020 election.
That puts Mr. Trump in direct contact with those who promote conspiracy theories or questionable legal ideas, not only telling him what he wants to hear, but also saying that they are – not private public servants. for him – were the only people he could trust.
“During our lengthy conversation earlier this week, I could hear the shameful and alienating attitude of attorneys from the White House Attorney’s Office toward you personally — but more importantly toward you. the Office of the President of the United States,” Olson wrote to Mr. Trump. “This is unacceptable.”
It was not immediately clear how Mr. Olson, who practices law in Washington, DC and Virginia, came to Mr. Trump’s orbit. Mr. Olson has previously worked with Republican super PACs and promote a conspiracy theory that Vice President Kamala Harris is ineligible to be Vice President, falsely claiming that she is not a natural born United States citizen. He and his company have long represented Gun Owners of America, an advocacy group.
According to his websitewhere a photograph of him shaking hands with President Richard M. Nixon, Mr. Olson was a White House intern in 1971.
Key revelations from the January 6 hearing
His 2020 memo was written 10 days later one of the most dramatic meetings ever held at Trump’s White House, in which three of the President’s White House advisers competed – at one point almost materially – with outside actors to influence Mr. During that meeting, on December 18, attorneys Sidney Powell and former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn urged Trump to seize the voting machines and appoint Ms. Powell as special counsel to investigate allegations of voter fraud. , even as White House lawyers fought back.
But the document shows that, even after his aides won the Oval Office skirmish, Mr. Trump continued to seek extreme legal advice contrary to the recommendations of the Department. Judicial and advisory offices.
And the memo indicates that Mr. Trump acted on outside advice. At one point, it mentioned the president urging Olson to contact the acting attorney general about the Justice Department’s lending of his credit to Mr. Trump’s legal efforts to nullify the outcome. vote.
A person familiar with the work of the House committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol said the committee is aware that Olson is in contact with Mr. Trump and that they are exploring Olson’s role in the attack. promote a plan to reverse the situation. election 2020.
Mr Olson did not respond to a request for comment.
A spokesman for Mr Trump did not respond to a request for comment on the former president’s relationship with Mr. Olson.
According to his memo, Mr. Olson was discussing with Mr. Trump the idea that the Justice Department would intervene with the Supreme Court to reverse his election defeat.
The court declined to hear a case in which Mr. Trump’s allies in Texas challenged the results of the Pennsylvania election, arguing that the plaintiffs lacked a position.
Mr Olson told Mr Trump that he believes the Justice Department “will do nothing but keep running full-time”.
“While the time to act was short as we spoke on Christmas Day, time is running out,” he wrote.
It’s not clear which White House lawyer Mr. Olson referred to as fired in his memo. At the time, White House adviser Pat A. Cipollone; Patrick Philbin, his deputy; and another lawyer who doesn’t work for the law firm, Eric Herschmann, are working in tandem to push back against some of the more outlandish ideas being proposed. Mr. Cipollone and Mr. Herschmann played key roles in the December 18 White House meeting against Ms. Powell and Mr. Flynn.
“The feeling I have is not only that he’s not giving you any options, but he’s there to make sure you don’t consider anything,” Olson wrote, referring to the unnamed attorney. of the White House. “But you have options.”
Among the people Olson mentioned when he spoke to Trump about the Justice Department’s involvement was Mark Martin, a former chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. White House officials at the time believed Martin was brought in through Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff.
Mr. Olson urged Mr. Trump to hire another attorney, Kurt Olsen, who had worked on the Texas case.
“As I emailed Molly on Saturday morning,” Olson wrote, referring to the Trump aide, “we have begun processing your question about our team amending the complaint. filed by Texas as the first draft of the complaint filed by the United States. The attorneys with whom I work have taken over that assignment and we now have a draft that can be presented to you for review and you send to Mr. Rosen for editing, improvement and filing. “
In his memo, Mr Olson recounted that during their discussions he told Mr Trump that he had followed the president’s suggestion to call Mr. attorneys file lawsuit seeking to block Joseph R. Electoral College victory Biden Jr.
Mr. Trump, based on Mr. Olson’s memo, knew that Mr. Rosen had been slow to make his request. The petition was never filed; Mr. Rosen testified last month before the committee on January 6 that doing so is beyond the limits of the law.
A spokesman for Mr. Rosen said he did not recall speaking with Mr. Olson, but it was precisely the acting attorney general against filing an election interference lawsuit.
At the time of memory, Mr. Trump had gone to Mar-a-Lago, but Mr. Olson encouraged him to return to Washington to fight the election results from his perch in the White House. Mr. Trump did so soon after, working throughout the holidays to challenge the election results.
“I don’t believe you can do what is required from Florida,” Olson wrote to the president. “And, it sends a message of your commitment to the mission, leaving Mar-a-Lago in charge of the White House. I hope you come back as soon as possible. “
Mr. Olson also encouraged Trump to fire or re-appoint Mr. Rosen if he failed to carry out his plan to use the Justice Department to challenge the election in court, although Mr. Olson acknowledged such action would attract news. negative ie.
“This step will likely give thousands of stories similar to the ‘Saturday Night Massacre’ in 1973 when President Nixon ordered AG Elliot Richardson to fire Archibald Cox as special counsel investigating Watergate. ,” he wrote.
Mr Olson said a new White House adviser should take steps to ensure a “fair number of elections”, although he acknowledged that would be seen by the media as “martial law”.
After Mr. Trump left office, Mr. Olson joined Mr. Lindell’s legal team, which promoted a series of conspiracy theories about the election and had sued for defamation by one former employee of the Dominion Voting System. Mr. Lindell, who crash the Oval Office in the final days of the presidency hoping that Mr. Trump would still take action regarding the election, was adamant that Mr. Trump will be reinstated as president in 2021, one thing was impossible.
Mr. Lindell sued the committee on January 6, seeking to block subpoenas of the panel to Verizon to see his call logs. The lawsuit, which Mr. Olson filed with other attorneys, argues that Mr. Lindell’s communications about his opposition to the 2020 election were protected speech, in part because they are tied to his religious beliefs.
“Mr. Lindell has publicly stated that his actions of integrity during the 2020 election were motivated in part by his deeply held religious beliefs,” the lawyers wrote in the lawsuit.
